The Divine Spirit
by Sorata Shioya
Summary: A certain blue-haired protagonist awakens in Tengu City, remembering nothing sans his name and Personas. When he meets Tobiichi Origami and Itsuka Shido, everything starts to change. Will he adjust to his new life? Will he recover his lost memories? Will he also find out the reason he is referred to as a 'Spirit' by others? AU. Pairings are undecided.
1. Spring of Awakening

**The Divine Spirit**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Spring of Awakening**

* * *

_"I won't let you make that face." __— _Itsuka Shido

* * *

Nothing. There was absolutely nothing as far as the eye can see. Nothing to see. Nothing to hear. A realm of nothingness. Everything was pitch-black.

It was daunting.

Mundane.

Desolate.

He couldn't move. He couldn't feel anything but the darkness that surrounded him. He didn't know where he was.

He felt empty.

He felt alone.

He felt sad.

It was completely dreadful.

_'...'_

".e..."

_'...?'_

"..ey..."

A voice was heard...

_'...Who's there?'_

"...xc...s... me..."

_'...Where?'_

Where was it originating from?

"...Are you injured?"

It was getting closer...

_'...Huh?'_

Everything then started to fade away.

* * *

A pair of grey eyes slowly opened, the eyelids fluttering. Bright light invaded their vision, making the eyes squint in recoil. Everything was blurred out of proportions.

Only a few seconds later did the eyes regain sight. "Ugh..."

"You're awake."

"...What?" a blue-haired boy murmured.

He felt that he was lying on his stomach, hardly moving. Whatever he was on, it was solid as a rock. His vision was beginning to return to him. When it did, he saw someone crouching down in front of him.

"Hmm?" There was a girl who was tilting her head. Her white hair was barely reaching her shoulders. On her face was a bandage attached to her left cheek. Her arms and legs also had bandages wrapped around them. She was staring down at the blue-haired boy in front of her with her blue eyes, showing little to no emotion in them. She was also wearing a uniform of some sorts.

Blinking a few times at the sight of the girl, the blue-haired boy began to stand up. He felt that his body was a bit tired, but he chalked it up to himself sleeping just a short while ago. He looked towards the white-haired girl with a look of confusion. "Who are you?"

"The same could be said about you." Her voice, like her eyes, showed no emotion.

"Oh. Where are my manners?" the blue-haired boy rubbed the back of his head, smiling bashfully. "My name is Arisato Minato."

The white-haired girl nodded. "Tobiichi Origami," she said, revealing her name. Again, no signs of emotion was heard or shown.

Minato's attention darted towards Origami's bandages. "Did you get hurt?"

"Hmm?"

Minato pointed to his left cheek. "Your bandages."

Origami placed her hand on her cheek. "Ah. They are minor injuries. Do not worry."

"That's good." Minato blurted that out without thinking. Why was that? Did he not like seeing someone injured?

"Your concern isn't necessary, but thank you," Origami thanked. "Why were you on the ground?"

Minato raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You were on the ground. Why?"

"Uhh..." Minato didn't really know the answer to that. _Why_ was he on the ground? What was he even doing? "To be perfectly honest, I don't know." He answered honestly.

Origami stared at Minato, not saying anything immediately. "Okay."

"Huh? That's it?" Minato asked incredulously. With a vague answer like that, why didn't she ask him more questions? Was Origami not that nosy? Or did she just assumed that Minato was abnormal?

Origami nodded. "I was just passing by to see how the construction was going." She pointed to her left with her pointer finger. Minato turned his head with regard to that direction and saw a large building that stretched wide, but parts of it were destroyed. Debris was heavily focused on the right side. There were construction vehicles and equipment at the base of the building. No one, not even construction workers, was around though. "I found you face down on the ground moments ago," Origami continued.

"Really?" Minato was kind of touched. A random person decided to help him just like that? It felt nice to know that there were people like Origami in the world. "My gratitude, Tobiichi-san," he said as he bowed in front of Origami.

Origami shook her head. "No need. I must return home now. I only came to see how far in construction this building was. Due to recent events, it seems that it will take some time before it's finished." She began to walk past Minato in another direction. After walking a few feet away, she stopped and turned her head back. "It was nice to meet you, Arisato-san." She then continued on her way.

Minato glanced at the direction Origami was walking in. _'What a strange girl,'_ he thought. Her personality seemed to be devoid of any emotion. But she seemed rather considerate.

A few seconds after Origami left, Minato realized something.

"Where am I?" He looked around him. His surroundings were completely unknown to him. It looked like Japan, but the area wasn't known to Minato. But there was a more pressing matter at hand.

"...Why can't I remember anything?"

* * *

**One Hour Later**

* * *

"Clothes. Check. MP3. Check. Headphones. Check. Evoker. Check. Hair? ...Check."

Now by an arcade, Minato was trying to see what he had on him. Everything he thought was necessary was with him. He saw his reflection in the arcade's glass window. Minato's hair was blue and long, his bangs covering his right eye; he was wearing a black school uniform. He also noticed something on him that didn't appear to be familiar.

"An armband?" His left arm sported a red armband that spelled out "S.E.E.S." in black lettering. "Meh... I'll leave it on. It looks cool. Now, is that everything? Oh! What about money?" He reached for all of his pockets. Minato's shoulders then slumped in disappointment. "...Damn it. I'm broke." He sighed, facepalming at the same time. "Without any money, where the hell am I going to stay at? More importantly, what about food!?" Minato shouted towards the sky, unnecessarily grabbing the attention of people passing by.

"Arisato-san."

Minato jumped. "Wha!?" He turned behind him and saw Tobiichi Origami once more, not looking any different from before. "T-Tobiichi-san? What are you doing here?"

"The same could be said about you," Origami repeated the same words from earlier. Her tone didn't show any emotion. Minato was starting to wonder how anyone could express absolutely nothing like that and not sound troubled.

"I thought you went home," Minato said, recalling what Origami said before she left an hour ago.

"I did, but I decided that I wanted to go see someone," Origami countered.

Minato sighed again. "Well, I was attempting to find what I had on me. I didn't say this before, but I don't have a clue where I am. It isn't just that too. I can't remember anything but my name." He half-lied. After Origami left, Minato realized that he could only recall his name and his Persona powers; nothing else.

He purposely left out his ability to summon Personae. What was the point in telling someone that? Not just anyone can have the potential to use a Persona or even have knowledge of them. "When I try to remember where I live, nothing comes to my mind. Anything other than my name is hazy. I was checking to see if I had at least some money on me. Me shouting a moment ago was because I realized I didn't have any with me. Now I don't know what I should do..." Minato frowned. He was beginning to feel hopeless in this situation. This dilemma was something no person should experience.

Origami gazed at Minato with her trademark emotionless expression, taking in the information he gave her. Feeling sympathetic, she chose to help Minato. "Tengu City."

"Huh?"

"Tengu City," Origami repeated. "That's where you are at."

"Ah. Okay. Thank you, Tobiichi-san. That doesn't sound familiar though..." Minato mumbled. He didn't know that there was a city by that name. It didn't ring any bells in his mind. Was that another memory forgotten? Why can't he remember anything? This was becoming very frustrating.

Origami took one of Minato's hands and held it with hers. This took him by surprise. "Come with me."

"To where?"

"You can stay with someone I know, Arisato-san," Origami replied. Minato cocked an eyebrow.

"You mean, that someone you know is going to let me stay at their place?" She nodded. Minato, while grateful, was leery. "But why though? Won't I just be a burden to them?" He was taken aback by her kindness. He hardly knew Origami and she hardly knew him, yet she was offering him a place to stay?

"Because you remind me of myself," Origami responded simply. While her monotonous tone says otherwise, Minato could tell that something happened to Origami in the past. It seemed too personal to bring up, so he thought it was best not to pry. "And they won't mind," she added.

"I... I don't know what to say Tobiichi-san... Other than thank you..." Minato said, using his free hand to rub the back of his head awkwardly, blushing at the same time. Never before did he experience such magnanimity.

At least, that's what he told himself. Memory loss can do that to you.

Origami nodded again, confirming his gratitude. "Let's go. His home is not too far from here, Arisato-san."

* * *

Minato and Origami arrived at a home a few minutes later that was rather normal by the looks of it. It had two floors and it looked nice. It also came with a garage. Origami rang the doorbell at the front door and then a voice was heard from inside.

"Shido! Go get the door!" a feminine, demanding voice called out.

"Yeah yeah," another voice replied, sounding annoyed. "Coming!"

The front door was opened. It revealed a young man with amber brown eyes that was about the same height as Minato. He also had blue hair, but it was barely shorter than Minato's.

"T-Tobiichi-san?" the other blue-haired teen inquired. His face showed confusion and shock. "What are you doing here? Should you really be walking around and about? ...And how do you know where I live?" The last bit of info made Minato wonder what he meant by it, but he shrugged it off.

"I'm sorry." Origami apologized and bowed, surprising the two blue-haired teens. "Though I know an apology is not nearly enough."

"What are you guys talking about?" Minato asked, genuinely perplexed by the altercation.

"I-it's nothing!" The other blue-haired teen waved his arms frantically. "I-It's fine Tobiichi-san. I forgive you, so could you please stop bowing. Everything turned out for the best, didn't it?" The guy looked embarrassed, most likely because there was another person viewing the commotion. He then focused on Minato, who was next to Origami. "Oh. Who's this?"

"Arisato Minato," Origami answered, gesturing to Minato. He held up a hand in greeting.

"Hello," Minato greeted with a smile.

"Oh nice to meet you Arisato-san. I'm Itsuka Shido," the other blue-haired boy said, introducing himself. "So what can I do for you two?"

Before Minato could answer, Origami cut him off. "Arisato-san has a case of amnesia, Shido."

Shido appeared to be surprised by the revelation. His face held a mix of sympathy and seriousness. "Really? I'm sorry, Arisato-san."

Minato shook his head. "Don't worry, Shido. It's alright."

"Shido," Origami continued, "could you take Arisato-san into your home for the time being? He doesn't know where his actual home is, and my apartment doesn't have enough space for the both of us." Shido took a step back.

"Wh-what?"

Origami approached Shido, intruding his personal space. "Do it for your girlfriend, Shido." Shido was starting to sweat a lot.

Shido then sighed, holding up his hands in resignation. "Alright. I guess my home is big enough for one more." He faced Minato. "It's only my little sister and I, Arisato-san. I hope you don't mind."

"No it's fine," Minato said. "This is already a generous act that I don't even know how to repay for it. Thank you, Shido." Minato bowed. "By the way, just call me Minato. I don't mind." Shido smiled.

"Well, welcome home then, Minato!" A small smile crept on Origami's face for a fleeting moment. Her face then reverted back to its neutral appearance.

"Shido, Arisato-san. I must go now." Origami came closer to Shido's face again. "I entrust him to you."

"R-right!" Shido stuttered. Origami nodded and went on her way to wherever she had to be, with the two blue-haired teens watching before Shido began to speak again.

"Okay, Minato. Let me show you around the house." He motioned for Minato to come inside. Minato nodded and entered the house with Shido. The pair walked through a hall that had a staircase leading to the second floor and entered a living room area. There was a purple couch that arched in in a right angle, a low-level, square-shaped brown table and a television set. There was a small girl sitting on the couch watching the TV which had an anime on. Her hair was red and in twin tails with white ribbons maintaining them. She also had a sucker in her mouth.

"Kotori," Shido called out. "Come meet our new housemate." The red-haired girl turned and saw the blue-haired duo.

"Ohhhh!" she exclaimed in excitement. She jumped off the couch and speed-walked to Minato, inspecting around him from different angles with curiosity. Minato didn't mind the redhead's intense desire of interest as he stood still. "Onii-chan, who is this?"

"This is Arisato Minato, Kotori," Shido introduced. "Minato, this is my little sister Kotori." Minato eye smiled at Kotori.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kotori-san." Kotori's mouth formed one of the biggest smiles Shido had ever seen.

"Wow, onii-chan! I didn't know you had a friend like Arisato-san! I didn't know you had any friends at all!" Shido's eyes narrowed as he gave a flat stare. Minato snickered lightly from Kotori's insinuation.

"Very funny," Shido deadpanned. "Anyway, Tobiichi brought Minato to me because he has amnesia and doesn't know where to go." He explained. "And... I couldn't exactly turn him _and_ Tobiichi down," Shido added. He didn't enjoy seeing people suffer. He and Minato failed to notice that Kotori was crying in a cute and comedic way. She then leaped forward and hugged Minato's waist, taking him and Shido by surprise.

"Waaaaaah! Arisato-san can stay here, right onii-chan?" She asked Shido with teary puppy dog eyes.

"Y-yeah he can." Shido stammered.

"Arisato-san?" Kotori asked Minato.

"Y-yes?" He was a bit overwhelmed by her crying.

"Can you become onii-chan's best friend? He needs friends!" Minato sweat-dropped.

"Sure. We'll be the best of friends, Kotori-san." Minato patted her head. She was finally beginning to calm down.

"Yay!" Kotori exclaimed happily, releasing her grip on Minato. Shido then cleared his throat.

"By the way, I don't recognize that school uniform from anywhere, Minato. Were you supposed to be a transfer student?"

"None of the schools in Tengu City has this uniform?" Minato asked, pointing at his clothes.

"Yeah, I'm sure of it," Shido attested.

"Damn... Curse my amnesia!" Minato clenched his fists tightly. "This is so ridiculous. I do want an education at least..." The Itsuka siblings felt bad for Minato. Even with amnesia, he still wanted to attend school? That won some respect in their eyes. Determining to fix this, Shido turned to his sister.

"Kotori, do you think you can use your 'connections' to have Minato enrolled into my high school if he isn't already?" Shido asked. "This is the first time I've seen him and I'm not sure if he was supposed to transfer in or not."

"Connections?" Minato tilted his head.

"Oh sure, onii-chan!" Kotori said while nodding, ignoring Minato's confusion. "How old are you, Arisato-san?"

"Ano... Sixteen?" Minato said hesitantly. He was still wondering what Shido and Kotori meant by "connections"; he decided to let it go. At this point, he didn't care anymore. "Maybe. I'm not sure." He sighed while also running his hand through his hair. "Stupid memory loss. If I had to guess, I look about Shido's age. What year are you in, Shido?"

"Second year in high school." Minato nodded in affirmation.

"Alright. I'll enroll in that year then. Perhaps I'm younger or older than I think, but being a second year in high school sounds right for some reason." He couldn't tell if he was Shido's senpai or not, but Minato had a strong feeling that he wasn't older or younger than Shido. A thought then popped into Minato's mind. "Hey guys?"

"What's up, Minato?" Shido asked.

"What day is it today?"

"Today is Saturday," Kotori answered. Minato blinked.

"Then why are you guys not at school now?" Minato questioned. It was Japan's norm for students to go to school six days a week, Monday through Saturday. "Is today a holiday or something?"

"Oh," Shido said. "Well my high school got hit by a spacequake recently. A large part of it was wiped out, so it's being repaired now."

"My school got hit too!" Kotori included.

Once again, Minato was stumped. "Spacequake? What is that?"

Shido and Kotori glanced at each other before turning back to Minato. "It looks like your case of amnesia is more severe than I thought." Shido sighed, his expression becoming more solemn. Kotori nodded in agreement. "Come sit on the couch with us, Minato. It will take some time to explain things in order to get you up to speed."

* * *

**Some Time Later**

* * *

"Did you understand everything Minato?" Shido tiredly asked. Afternoon just arrived. The sun had started to set. Kotori was sleeping soundly next to Shido on the couch. "This type of thing is kind of morbid to talk about."

Spacequakes. They're widespread disturbances of space of unknown origin. As the name suggests, it's when a region of space shakes, destroying all within. Nobody knows why they happen. It all started thirty years ago, in the middle of Eurasia. The region consisted of countries such as China, Mongolia, and the Soviet Union. Without warning, the first ever recorded spacequake struck. Those countries were utterly annihilated by it, leaving behind mass destruction and emptiness in its wake. Casualties were reported to be as high as 150 million. It was the largest and deadliest disaster in human history.

After that incident that became known as the Eurasia Sky Disaster, numerous spacequakes occurred across the globe for the next six months, but they were smaller. The estimated number was around 50. In Japan, there was one spacequake that leveled an area heavily that was also well known. The Great South Kanto Area Spacequake. There were no more in the following 25 years, but starting five years ago, beginning in the reformed Tengu City, the spacequakes have been on the rise. To make things worst, Japan's getting most of them.

Humanity has developed safety precautions in order to combat these disasters of mass destruction. The most important aspect of these precautions was to evacuate civilians to underground shelters. Most buildings and entrances were designed to vacate civilians to the shelters before incoming spacequakes destroy areas. Should areas get ravaged, a group called the Restoration Forces get sent in to repair what's been destroyed. Due to spacequakes' frequency and ranged damage levels, the group restores things fairly fast.

"Yeah. I think I do," Minato replied, sounding tired as well. "Spacequakes sound pretty serious. Thanks for telling me all of this, Shido. If I hadn't learned about it sooner, I probably would have brushed it off as some lies."

"No problem. By the way, are you hungry?" As soon as Shido asked that, Minato's stomach growled.

"Heheh..." Minato rubbed his stomach. "I forgot I haven't eaten anything all day."

Shido chuckled at this. "Well you're in luck! Since my parents' jobs keep them busy away from home, I had to be the adult and do most of the chores in this house, especially cooking for Kotori and I. How about I make us some itamemono?"

Minato grinned. "Sweet!"

Kotori immediately awakened. "SWEETS!"

* * *

**Two Days Later**

* * *

"Here we are, Minato," Shido said, guiding Minato to their high school. Both of them were now in Raizen High School male uniforms for second years. The uniforms consisted of black jackets, white shirts beneath them, accompanied with grey trousers. They also had to wear blue and white neckties. Minato kept on his headphones and MP3 player. He couldn't go anywhere without them. Who knows when he might want to block out the world with his music?

They reached the entrance of the school. Other students were gathering inside already. "Wait a minute... This is that building I saw that was under construction!" Minato exclaimed, remembering where he and Origami initially met. It was already complete within two days?

"Pretty fast right? The Restoration Forces do a great job at, well, restoring things." Shido commented. "You know, it's kind of interesting that you'll be transferring into my class, Class 4. What are the odds of that, right?" Shido laughed nervously, almost like he was hiding something. Minato noticed this but ignored it.

"I wonder if I'll make a good impression," Minato wondered.

* * *

"...Haaah."

Shido absentmindedly sighed while staring at the ceiling of his classroom. A lot of things happened in the past few days for him. His thoughts were fixated on a certain someone he wasn't able to see since Friday. He wasn't able to see them, which bothered him quite a bit. And then there was Minato. Tobiichi Origami, Shido's "girlfriend," practically left Minato into his care. Minato was an amnesiac, someone who lost their memories. Shido could sympathize with the other blue-haired teen. When he was younger, an incident left him without memories as well. After that incident, he was quickly adopted by Kotori's family, effectively becoming Kotori's onii-chan and the only son of the family. Many years passed since then and he still couldn't remember his past very well. Shido figured it was best not to think about it so much. The present and future were more important. Shido also had an interesting personality. Apparently, he would become strangely sensitive to the despair inside people. If someone, even a stranger, appeared to be melancholic and Shido saw it, he'd go and help them without a second thought. When he realized that Minato was a person that matched the description, Shido didn't hesitate to give him a helping hand.

"Something wrong, Itsuka?" A student with swept-back spiky black hair and blackish grey eyes stood in front of Shido with a look of concern. His name was Tonomachi Hiroto. He was a classmate of Shido's who spoke to him more often than anyone else in school.

"Oh. Hey, Tonomachi," Shido said exhaustively. "I'm fine. I'm just tired. It's been a long weekend for me."

Tonomachi chuckled. "Well duh. It's been a long weekend for all of us because of that spacequake that hit our school. So what happened to that cute girl I saw you were on a date with Friday? Did you two break up?"

Shido grunted. "No, we didn't. I also don't want to talk about it." Shido's eyes narrowed in another direction. Seeing Shido's seriousness, Tonomachi decided to drop the conversation and returned to his seat, pulling out his cellphone to check up on his own "girlfriend." Then, at that time, the door of the classroom slid open and a student walked through it. That person was...

"Tobiichi?" Shido stood up from his seat. Origami was still covered with bandages like Shido remembered. Everyone in the classroom was abuzz, their whispering and gazes gathered on Origami's appearance. She walked over to Shido with a couple of uncertain steps until she was right in front of him. "I-I'm glad to see you're doing well, Tobiichi-san." Shido said, trying to ignore the several stares from his classmates.

Origami unexpectedly gave a deep bow. Shido was taken by surprise and the classroom becoming noisy as a result. "I'm sorry, Shido. After what I did, I felt guilty for putting more responsibility on you. Is he alright?"

The classroom went into an uproar, everyone's attention focusing on Shido and Origami.

"Wha... Itsuka, did you do something to Tobiichi!?"

"'More responsibility'?!"

"Did she say 'is he alright'!?"

"Get your minds out of the gutter!" Shido shouted to his gossiping classmates. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be a way he could explain the situations in detail. Shido faced Origami again, who was still bowing. "I-I'll forgive you, so for now raise your head." Origami obediently straightened up. Shido leaned in closer to Origami's ear and whispered into it. "He's fine. He's crashing at my place still."

Origami gave a silent nod. "But." She gripped Shido's necktie and pulled her face close to Shido's, her emotionless expression not even changing in the slightest. Shido let out a small yelp. "No cheating."

"...Huh?"

Everyone's, including Shido's, eyes became dots when they witnessed the entire scene. Then the chime that signaled the start of homeroom rang. The students, save Shido and Origami, returned to their assigned seats, still glancing with interest. Origami continued to stare intently at Shido's face, however.

"Goooood morning evvvveryone!" A lady with a small build and thin-framed glasses walked into the classroom with a cheerful expression on her face. Her name was Okamine Tamae; she was the teacher for Class 4. Many students called her by her nickname, Tama-chan, because of her childish face. She walked over to the desk in the front of the room. "Homeroom is starting! Hmm? Tobiichi-san, what are you doing?" Tamae noticed Origami holding Shido's necktie.

"..." Origami silently flashed a quick glance at her teacher, and then released Shido's necktie and returned to her seat, which was to Shido's right.

_'Thank you sensei,'_ Shido internally thanked as he adjusted himself in his seat.

"O-okay, is everybody settled in?" Tamae asked, trying to alleviate her class's unrest that she sensed. Then she hit her hand as if she remembered something. "Oh right! Before we take attendance, I have two surprises! Come in!" Saying this, she called towards the door she entered not too long ago.

"Mhmm."

"Right."

Two voices responded back.

"Wha..."

"...!"

Shido's and Origami's jaws dropped simultaneously. A girl with long dark purple hair in a ponytail entered the classroom, wearing the female Raizen High School uniform along with a familiar blue-haired teen with grey eyes.

"I am transferring into this class from today. My name is Yatogami Tohka! Pleased to be in your care." The girl said with a huge smile on her face.

"And I'm Arisato Minato. Pleased to make your acquaintances." The boy said with a small smile, raising a hand in greeting.

Once again, the entire class went into an uproar. An impossibly beautiful girl AND a bishōnen boy were transferring in? The guys couldn't take their eyes off of Tohka; they were panting like dogs. The same thing applied to Minato as the girls were beginning to drool just by looking at him.

Ignoring the various gazes, both Minato and Tohka wrote their names on the chalkboard with chalk, although Tohka only wrote her first name. She then gave a satisfying nod to herself.

Shido was staring with widened eyes at Tohka. "Wh... you, why are you..."

"Huh?" Tohka turned her head to face the source of the voice. Her eyes had stars in them. "Ohh, Shido! I missed you!" She hopped over to right beside Shido. And again, Shido was the main focus of the class.

"She must really like you, Shido." Minato walked over to where Shido sat too, his hands in his pockets. "Before we came in, Yatogami-san thought I was you until I finally convinced her I wasn't. She's a very cheerful person, don't you think?"

"Minato looked a lot like you Shido! I was very surprised!" Tohka exclaimed. "Are you two brothers!?"

Shido was sweating profusely at the attention he was getting. Murmurs were heard all around the classroom. He then whispered in a small voice that only he and Tohka could hear. "T-Tohka...? Why are you here?"

"The examinations and stuff are finished," Tohka whispered back. "They said that 99% of my power had vanished. Anyway, everything seemed to end well. Now I can't cause the world to experience pain just by existing anymore!" Shido briefly smiled but then he shook his head.

"And your family name?"

"That, uhh, sleepy person gave it to me," Tohka replied.

"Jeez." Shido scratched the back of his head and laid on his desk. He was glad that he could see Tohka now and that she was allowed to be free, but there were other things to be concerned with.

"Is there something wrong, Shido?" Minato asked.

"Yeah. Is there? Ahh, could it be, were you lonely when I was gone?" Tohka asked aloud. Then the commotion in the classroom had reached its climax. Feeling more uncomfortable then ever, Shido somehow managed to get his voice out.

"What? ...Don't say something weird like that."

Tohka pouted. "Hmph. How cold. Even though you were chasing me wildly back then." She placed her hands on her cheeks, making an embarrassed look. Shido immediately felt shivers down his spine. The students were becoming even more agitated than before. At this rate, everyone will know Shido's name by the time school is over. Minato tried to stifle his laughing.

"N-no, Tohka!" Shido stuttered. "S-saying it like that will cause everyone to misunderstand!"

"Wha? Are you saying that it was a misunderstanding? Even though it was my first time..." And then everyone's agitation reached its peak. Minato could hardly contain his laughter. Oh the innuendos and adolescent minds.

Suddenly, Tohka moved her face to the right. "Eh?" In front of Shido's and Minato's eyes, something that seemed like a pen sliced horizontally through the air at an incredible speed. Before it could make contact with anything, it was instantly caught.

The pen was caught by none other than Arisato Minato.

Looking for its source, he saw Origami in a posture as if she had just thrown the pen with widened eyes.

Shido's jaw dropped.

Minato smiled for a moment, but then frowned. Why would Origami do something like that?

"...Wha?"

"..." Origami then focused on Tohka. Their eyes crossed.

"You... Why are you here?" Tohka questioned, almost threateningly.

"That is my line," Origami retorted in her monotonous tone. Everyone could just feel the tension between them.

Shido clutched his head. "Oh no..."

"O-okay! Stop it! Let's end this now! Okay! Don't fight!" Tamae hurriedly cut between the two girls, and somehow managed to diffuse the situation. She cleared her throat. "We need to find available seats for our new students. Let's see... Arisato-san's seat will be... in front of Itsuka-san!" She pointed to the empty desk in front of Shido.

Minato shrugged and took the seat in front of Shido, placing an arm on Shido's desk. "Girl troubles, Shido?" Minato asked. Shido nodded his head, still clutching it. "Perhaps I can teach you a thing or two. I know I lost my memories, but that doesn't mean I lost my charm as well." Many of the girls in the class then gazed at Minato with sparkles in their eyes.

Shido perked up a little. "Really?"

Minato smiled. "What are best friends for right?"

Shido felt better now. Maybe Minato can help him deal with girls! It sounded better than playing a dating sim program! He felt pathetic when he had to play through one.

"Now, let's see." Tamae was trying to find a spot for Tohka now. "Yatogami-san's seat will be_—_" Tohka approached a girl who was sitting to Shido's left.

"Found one!" she exclaimed happily. She gave a scary glare at the girl. "Move," she commanded.

"Eeeeek!" Faced with that pressure, the female student fell down from her chair, fainting on the floor.

"Thank you!" Tohka calmly sat down and looked towards Shido. But in doing so, she also met Origami's gaze.

"..."

"..."

The two of them silently glared at each other.

Showered with strange looks from both sides, Shido held his head once more. Minato smiled at the situation.

_'This is gonna be a fun year. I can feel it! ...Where have I heard that from?'_

* * *

**A/N:** Allow me to say welcome to the first Date A Live and Persona (3) crossover! This idea was a story idea given by Angel of light darkness that I found interesting! Thanks for the idea by the way! This idea really got my attention! There are only a few Persona crossovers I've seen that really click. Here's to hoping that this will add on to the pile!

This is the second story I've posted on the site. Ghost In the Machine (Sword Art Online x Persona 3) was my first!

Thanks for reading! Reviews are very much appreciated! I'm not asking for follows and favorites because that'll make me sound greedy, and I don't like that. It's totally up to you readers if you want to read the story!


	2. With Friends Like These

**The Divine Spirit**

* * *

**Chapter 2: With Friends Like These**

* * *

_"We are friends, aren't we?" — Takeba Yukari_

* * *

**Somewhere in Tengu City**

* * *

"...It has been a month. He has yet to disappear and reappear like the others. No spacequakes have occurred in this time span that were located in Japan."

"But we can confirm that he is one of **them**?"

"Yes... We've detected vast amounts of Mana within him that has been heavily suppressed. His powers and abilities are unknown at this time."

"Hmph... We need to give him a reason to use his powers. Otherwise we're unable to perform a full analysis on him. Maybe we can pit him against _those_ girls?"

"That is a viable hypothesis."

"Then that will be the plan everyone!"

* * *

**Elsewhere**

* * *

"We need to pick up our pace, Shido," Minato plainly said while running alongside Shido.

"I know!" Shido responded back, panting.

The blue-haired teens were running through Tengu City in order to get to school. There was a small problem, however. Due to some unforeseen circumstances in today's forecast, it was raining and the two boys were soaking wet because they didn't have umbrellas with them. Shido was running out of breath as he and Minato were running through the drizzle.

"Hang on. Let's stop here for a moment." Minato noticed his friend's fatigue and thought it was best to rest before continuing on. Shido silently agreed as the two entered the local shrine area that was to their right, trying to dry themselves off. Their wet uniforms were sticking to their bodies. It felt very unpleasant. Shido let out an annoyed groan.

"The forecast has been wrong a lot, recently. They said there was only a 10% chance of rain," Shido said. The supposedly spiteful weather forecaster made a number of recent predictions that had been very inaccurate recently. The past few days in Tengu City had seen rain instead of sun. "Remind me why we didn't decide to bring umbrellas?" he asked Minato. The other blue-haired teen simply shrugged.

"Must have slipped our minds, I guess. Although the weather forecast said there was a 10% chance of rain, it's still a chance. Just not a very big one." Shido couldn't argue with that logic. It was 100% ironclad.

Minato gazed at his surroundings, taking in the sights of the shrine and the city. "You know, I'm starting to get the hang of things now. I can finally navigate my way through Tengu City easily, even though it's pretty large. It still kind of bothers me that we don't take a bus or a train to Raizen High because it's kind of far from your place. But hey, the thirty minute exercise is nice." It didn't take too long for Minato to learn the city's layout with Shido's help, and he wasn't winded by the daily exercise of going to school. Shido was baffled at Minato's aptitude of adjusting to new situations at first despite that Minato was an amnesiac. Shido concluded that it was instinctive for humans to adapt to new experiences. Minato was simply taking the initiative far too well. "Ready to go?" Shido nodded and the two were about to leave when they heard a loud splash nearby.

They both turned around and saw a little girl whose face they couldn't see. She was wearing a green hoodie that had rabbit ears which covered her head and it seemed like she was skipping on the puddles. On her left hand was a funny looking, rabbit-shaped puppet. The girl suddenly tripped and fell onto the rain puddle beneath her. The rabbit puppet on her left hand slipped off and flew forward.

"H-hey!" Shido called out. Both he and Minato ran towards the fallen girl. Shido helped her up to the point that she could crouch. Her now visible face revealed light blue hair and eyes. "Thank goodness. Are you okay?" he asked. The little girl looked at the blue-haired duo in front of her and her eyes widened. She immediately retreated backwards to the tree behind her, leaving Shido slightly dumbfounded. Minato cautiously eyed the girl. "Uhh..."

"Please... don't touch me." The girl spoke, sounding very afraid. Shido's jaw dropped slightly. Minato easily read his expression. Did he think that she thought that they were lolicons? "Please... don't hurt me." Minato and Shido stared at her with worried expressions on their faces. Were they really that intimidating? Was she frightened of boys, or people in general? Minato blinked a couple of times and poked his friend.

"Hey. We need to leave pretty soon, Shido," he pointed out. If they kept this up, they were surely going to be late for school today. And Minato did not want to deal with possible consequences like detention or cleaning after school. Then again, Okamine-sensei was not that type of person. All she would probably do was scold them a little. Shido turned to Minato.

"But... what about... huh?" Shido looked back to where the girl was cowering in fear, only to find that she wasn't there anymore. Her rabbit puppet was gone as well. He surveyed the area and found no signs of her. "Where did she..." Did she teleport or disappear into thin air? Minato was curious about the girl also, but there was something they needed to do for the time being. He placed a hand on one of Shido's shoulders.

"Let's get going already. Don't worry about her right now. She probably went to school or back home. Her and arriving at school late will be the least of our... ACHOO!" Minato sneezed. He began to feel sick from the overexposure of rain that pelted his body continuously. "...Worries at this rate if we keep standing here." Shido hesitantly acceded and the two left the shrine area for school.

* * *

**A Few Hours Later**

* * *

_"In the light men're crossing over lone shadows—"_

"Arisato-san! Try these!"

_"Wearing veiled slight hopes of intimacy—"_

"No don't try hers! Taste mine!"

_"Want to be close—"_

"He doesn't want yours! Arisato-kun wants the ones I have!"

_"To be close..."_

Minato was gazing outside through a window. The rain was still pouring from the skies. Will it ever end? Minato was also listening to a song from his mp3 player, _Want To Be Close_, in an attempt to drown out the voices of the girls that ringed around him and his desk. They were trying to get his attention, but to no avail, they couldn't. It was humorously ironic.

Today in Raizen High School, the female students had their home economics class. Many girls from his class and other classes made various types of food just for the silent blue-haired boy. From cookies to cupcakes to even _slices of __cake_. With his large appetite and generous personality, Minato kindly accepted his female classmates' food. Luckily, everything he ate was tasty and edible to which he commented on. The girls squealed with delight and the guys of Class 4 glared daggers at Minato.

It had only been a month since he enrolled into Raizen High School, but Minato, plus Shido, unintentionally created quite a reputation for themselves. Every student in the school knew who the blue-haired duo were. Soon after transferring in, Minato was known for his stoic personality and quietness. He didn't usually speak unless he was spoken to by someone, although he would converse with Shido often. Even without Kotori's constant pestering, the two became fast friends. They both shared healthy interests in cooking and their personalities complemented each other. Minato was the composed, aloof one of the duo while Shido was the spastic, sensitive one. The blue-haired duo were both bishōnens as well. Except, Minato was more apparent of it and was continually hounded by his female classmates, much to his chagrin. When he wasn't spending time with Shido, the fangirls that were attracted to him made many attempts to get close to him. Despite the fact that he was slightly annoyed by their efforts, Minato couldn't outright admit it to them. He would have felt bad for hurting their feelings. He would conjure up believable excuses so his fangirls would leave him alone though.

On the other hand, Shido had two of the most popular girls in his year vying for his attention. Tobiichi Origami was already famous for her excellence in terms of grades and athletics on top of being a beauty too. She made it clear to Shido and everyone, mainly Tohka, that she's Shido's girlfriend. Yatogami Tohka, as described by Shido himself, was an impossibly beautiful girl that was very fond of Shido. She loved to spend time with him whenever possible, but her "Shido Time" was usually thwarted by Origami and vice versa. Tohka and Origami would engage in heated arguments about who Shido preferred over something like personality or actions. Before the tension between the two could escalate, Shido would hastily come between them so that they both stop, attempting to avoid any more drama. It was pretty amusing for Minato as he would watch the daily feuds with a small smile. The only advice Minato could offer to Shido was to either let Origami and Tohka settle their arguments through their own means somehow or stop the two before they get more serious. Even the music-loving Minato didn't know how to handle situations like those.

Taking off his headphones, Minato cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of the girls who were bickering around him. "I'm sorry girls, but I'm feeling kind of tired today. You know, homework and stuff. I appreciate everything you all did for me, but can I be left alone for now? I have some things to think about." The girls nodded in understanding and in unison, not asking any questions, and left their food with Minato. Hooray. Where was a doggy bag when he needed one? Meh. He decided he would just eat some now. He didn't feel tired at all, but he felt like doing something else. Something that wouldn't make him shoot himself in the head with his Evoker. Hanging out with his best friend was out of the question. The teen was sleeping on his desk, and Minato didn't want to disrupt his napping. He was about to put on his headphones again when...

"Shido!" A cheerful voice shouted from outside the classroom, promptly awakening the boy whose name was called as he shot up from his seat and stood on his feet, swaying side to side unsteadily. The classroom's door slid open, revealing Yatogami Tohka wearing an apron over her school uniform. She held a container in her hands that was filled with what looked to be cookies, each of them with a different face of emotion. Some appeared to be shaped like gingerbread men! Tohka skipped happily over to Shido's desk with a beaming smile and placed the tray right in front of Shido. "I made these things called cookies! Everyone in cooking class helped me make them, and this is the result! Please try them!"

Shido felt a cold breeze blow across his back. It wasn't caused by Tohka's cookies. No, it was caused by glares of resentment from the male students of Class 4. It wasn't entirely unreasonable. The fact that Shido and Minato were able to enjoy girls' cooking made them targets of jealousy by their fellow male classmates. Minato was capable of brushing off the resentment directed towards him. It wasn't hard. Should a guy get real bitchy about Minato and Shido hogging all the attention, Minato would simply stare at them with a scarily blank expression. It was more than enough to get hostile guys to back off. Sadly, Shido didn't have that type of confidence or poker face that Minato used on a regular basis, so most of the guys targeted him instead. "Ano..."

"Hmm? What's wrong Shido? You're not going to eat?" Tohka asked, tilting her head cutely.

"I... Err... About that..." Shido said with a nervous twitch in his cheek. Tohka's shoulders began drooping little by little.

"Oh... I see... It's because Shido won't like my cooking..." Tohka mumbled dejectedly, the red ribbon that tied her hair into a pony tail deflating as she talked.

"What! No! I could never think of that Tohka! I bet they're really good!" Shido proclaimed, his voice filled with determination. Seeing her sad again made his heart ache. Tohka perked up with stars in her eyes. Shido made up his mind and grabbed one of Tohka's cookies from her container. He slowly lifted it to his mou_—_

"Tch." As Shido was about to consume the cookie, Minato saw out of the corner of his eye a silver blur that flew directly towards the cookie from the hallway. Acting on pure instinct, he caught the object between his index and middle finger. The thrown projectile turned out to be a fork. Shido's and Tohka's eyes widened in shock as Minato held the fork in front of them.

"Wha-What!?" Shido panicked.

"What, who did that! That could have hurt Shido or Minato!" Tohka exclaimed. She did care for the two blue-haired teens. She saw Shido as someone really special, but she also did see Minato as a friend. Minato enjoyed Tohka's company. She was so incredibly bubbly that it was contagious. How can anyone be that happy? Tohka felt that other than Shido, she could open up to Minato. During the past month, Tohka and Minato found that they had one thing in common. They were both gluttons. No one was capable of keeping up with them when it came to eating. Nearly everyone, fellow students and other people who happened to see Minato and Tohka dine, couldn't fathom how the two could consume so much and maintain their thin figures. Most of the time the two would share food with each other. Minato normally made his own food in the Itsuka residence or Shido would make both of their lunches. Either way, the food was delicious.

Tohka kept insisting that Minato should address her by her first name because she liked it that way. Eventually, he submitted.

Minato turned his head towards the supposed origin of where the fork was shot from as Tohka and Shido did the same. At the door from where Tohka entered earlier stood Tobiichi Origami in a posture as if she had just thrown something a few seconds ago with her right hand stretched out. Her bandages were now gone, signaling that she recovered from whatever injuries she had before. The white-haired girl had no expression on her face like always, but she then glanced at Minato with her eyebrows furrowed. How was he able to intercept her thrown projectiles not once, but twice? No one was able to do that! Minato inspected the fork between his fingers for a brief moment before using it to eat a part of the slice of a blueberry cake one of his fangirls made for him earlier. The taste of it made Minato smile softly. Having swallowed that piece of cake, Minato began to speak with a frown.

"Really. Again, Tobiichi-san?" He said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "I can deal with your little spats between you and Tohka-san, but attempting to destroy perfectly good food is unacceptable." When it came to food, Minato was rather defensive. It was understandable. Wasting food in a way Origami attempted to do ticked Minato off. There were three good ways to piss him off. One was hurting his friends in one way or another. The second way disrupting his music time, but there were exceptions if the reasons were legit. The third and final way was wasting food. Unless of course, the food wasn't edible. _'Her cookies look fine to me...' _Minato internally assumed, glimpsing at Tohka's cookies again for a second. Her cookies appeared to look normal, but appearances weren't everything. It all came down to taste, something that Shido had the pleasure of doing, perhaps.

Origami narrowed her eyes slightly when Minato regarded Tohka by her first name but no one noticed it. Her friendship with Minato was an odd one. They didn't have much to talk about other than saying their greetings and farewells, or asking each other for assistance on their homework. The majority of Raizen High found out that Minato's intellect was on par with Origami's in the past month. The same went for his athletic abilities despite Minato not joining any sports teams. It was like he was a male version of Origami. Those two aspects made his fangirls gush over him even more, much to Minato's unnoticeable dismay. Minato aimed to have Origami open up a bit, but the only thing that she was really willing to talk about was Shido, describing his physical aspects or what he did in recent days. Minato believed that her obsession with Shido was borderline yandere. It's nice that Origami was being protective of her "boyfriend," but it was creepy nonetheless. Shido once mentioned that Origami apparently sniffed his gym clothes and that she stalked him from a distance; all of which made Minato confirm his beliefs with a sigh.

Holding a container of her own with her left hand, Origami approached Tohka and the blue-haired teens while looking at them. She stopped in front of Shido and placed the container on his desk and lifted the lid. "You don't have to put Yatogami Tohka's _thing_ in your mouth. If you are going to eat something, then eat this." Inside the container were perfect cookies that were uniform in shape were neatly lined up. They looked like products that came straight from a factory line. "If you want cookies, I have baked some for you."

"Errrr..." Shido sweat dropped. Minato smiled softly, impressed by the display.

"Wow. They look remarkable and tasty, Tobiichi-san. Shido's a lucky guy." Shido began to sweat profusely. Another cat fight was about to commence shortly and the two blue-haired teens knew it. Tohka glared at Origami.

"Don't copy me!" Origami turned to Tohka.

"I actually completed mine before you," Origami calmly stated.

"Sh-shut up! There's no way your cookies would ever taste nice." Tohka then picked up one of Origami's cookies and ate it. "Oooooooohhhh..." Tohka's cheeks blushed with a color akin to cherry blossoms as she made an ecstatic expression. It seemed that the cookie tasted heavenly. But Tohka instantly snapped out of her trance and shook her head a lot. "Th-they aren't anything special! If your cookie is like that, then mine is more delicious! Shido, just hurry up and eat my cookies!" Tohka then held up her container of cookies in front of Shido.

"You should eat mine," Origami said while doing the same thing as Tohka. The two girls both had glints in their eyes that could pierce and pin down an enemy, and as they stared at Shido, a sweat drop began to flow down his cheek. Ignoring most of the deathly glares from his male classmates while also receiving a silent nod from Minato, Shido took a cookie out of each container and ate them at the same time.

"Mhm. They're both delicious." He said nervously. Tohka fist pumped.

"He ate mine a little faster," Tohka said to Origami.

"He ate mine earlier by 0.02 seconds," Origami replied.

"What did you say!?" Tohka shouted. Minato and Shido sighed and face palmed simultaneously. There just didn't seem to be an end to this.

* * *

**A Few More Hours Later**

* * *

Minato was on his way back to the Itsuka residence after school ended for the day. The rain had yet to subside in Tengu City, so he had to run. He unfortunately found out that he didn't have any change for a bus or train ride. He made a mental note to himself for later to actually get a job. Perhaps one at a café. It sounded beneficial in more ways than one for some reason. Shido originally wanted to go home with him, but Origami made Shido stay behind at Raizen High to taste more of her food that she somehow cooked very quickly within two hours. She wanted to prove that she was a far better cook than Tohka. Shido pleaded for Minato to save him as he was getting dragged away by Origami. Minato merely stared at Shido while he had his headphones on and then walked in the opposite direction, leaving Shido to his fate.

_'Sorry, my friend, but you're going to have to go at it alone.' _The unfortunate, pleading teen had to learn to deal with girls, especially since he had a so-called girlfriend, Minato thought to himself.

"I wonder if it's possible for that weather forecaster to get struck by lightning." Minato was incredibly annoyed by the fact that he didn't have an umbrella with him. Every part of him was drenched, save for his mp3 and headphones that he stored in his pockets. At least the rain didn't mess his hair up a whole lot. "Come on. I'm almost there. Once I'm back, I'm going to take a nice, long shower. And then I'll eat some ramen... Or something else..." Minato murmured, crossing his arms while coming closer to the arcade. He was in deep thought, trying to decide what he would eat later. There were so many choices.

Because of that, he nearly failed noticing the girl who just walked out of the arcade and was currently in his path.

At the last possible moment, Minato slid to a screeching halt, almost colliding with that girl. Had he not noticed her sooner, he could have knocked her down and she could have been injured. Minato did not want to see such a sight.

"My apologies, Miss. I wasn't looking where I was going," Minato apologized. "I'm in a bit of a rush you see." The blue-haired boy then took note of the girl's appearance. This person had long, black hair tied into ponytails that just happened to rest on her shoulders and she was wearing a black Gothic dress. The left side of her face was covered by her abnormally long bangs, but the right side revealed her right eye to be red. This girl was also... smiling at Minato?

"Ara ara, what do I have here?" The girl's visible right eye met Minato's grey eyes. She spoke with curiosity in somewhat of a teasing tone, similar to how a succubus would speak. Minato had to admit, she was easily one of the most beautiful girls he had ever laid eyes on. She was emanating astonishing beauty. The girl scanned Minato's figure up and down before she giggled lightly, sounding as if she was satisfied. "Ara, you're more impressive in person Minato-san."

Wait. What?

How did she know Minato's name?

"How do you my name, Miss?" Minato asked calmly with his head tilted. He was suspicious of the stranger who somehow knew his first name. He had never seen her before. He was sure of it.

"It was a lucky guess," she replied smoothly.

Minato, however, wasn't convinced. A lucky guess? Yeah, right. The chances of her correctly guessing Minato's name were incredibly slim. Her response did dismiss his suspicions of the two meeting prior to his memory loss.

The blue-haired teen shrugged off the mysterious girl's probable lie. He really couldn't care less. It was likely that she was a stalker of his that he never knew about. Sure he had admirers, but Minato never imagined that he had a stalker. As long as she didn't attempt to do anything to him, he would let it slide. What could a girl such as the one standing in front of him do to Minato anyway? Besides, he had to head back to the Itsuka residence. A good shower and dinner were waiting for him.

"Interesting," Minato said after mulling over his thoughts, still maintaining his poker face throughout the entire conversation. He believed now would be the best time to end the awkward conversation while he had the chance. "Well, I have to get going now. Don't stay out too long in the rain because you could catch a cold. It was nice meeting you Miss..." He trailed off, expecting the girl to finish his sentence by stating her name.

"Tokisaki Kurumi." The girl finished, revealing her identity. A faint blush appeared on her face. Kurumi then gave a shy smile. "It was nice meeting you as well, Minato-san." Minato nodded in response.

"Sayonara, Tokisaki-san." Minato raised his hand and waved goodbye as Kurumi did the same. He proceeded to return home, running past Kurumi in the process. Kurumi remained standing at her position as she watched Minato progressively getting farther and farther away from her with each passing second. Another faint blush developed on her face. She placed her left hand on her left cheek and sighed in ecstasy.

"Ara ara. What a man. I can hardly contain myself. So respectful. So mysterious. So delicious," Kurumi said to herself, licking her lips in euphoria. Just thinking of the stoic, blue-haired boy made her very excited.

"You will be _mine_, Arisato Minato."

* * *

**The Next Day**

* * *

"Kotori. I'm home." Minato returned to the Itsuka residence. School was over for the day. Thank goodness too. He was getting real sick of his fangirls swarming him. It was very uncomfortable. By tomorrow, he really needed a plan. Minato took off his black school uniform jacket and slung it over his shoulder while walking towards the living room. Kotori typically stayed in there most of the time. She loved to watch television more than the two blue-haired boys that stayed in the same house as her. Sure enough, the petite redhead with pigtails was on the couch watching an anime as she was sucking on a lollipop. An anime that involved zombies apparently. Kotori turned her head and smiled happily at Minato.

"Oh! Welcome back Minato-kun!" Kotori eventually became more comfortable with Minato over the past month. She was beginning to see Minato as another older brother. He was more stern than Shido when it came to discipline, usually only when Kotori wanted to eat sweets rather than actual food. She found out the hard way what it meant to disobey Minato. One time was too much for her. She still had nightmares of it. She thought it was for the best that she wouldn't defy Minato EVER again. "Where's onii-chan?" She noticed that Shido wasn't with Minato.

"Tobiichi-san." Minato answered simply, rolling his eyes at Shido's situation. He couldn't tell if he should pity or scorn Shido for having a caring girlfriend that was devoted to make him happy.

"Ah." Kotori nodded in understanding.

"Minato?" A familiar voice inquired, sounding muffled at the same time. The blue-haired teen looked over to the kitchen area and found Yatogami Tohka sitting at the dining room table, eating what appeared to be soy flour bread. There were tons of bags filled with them on the table. Minato could have sworn that the Itsukas didn't have that many the last time he checked the food supply not too long ago. He also knew he didn't purchase too many either. Where did the bread come from? Surely Tohka didn't carry all of them with her on the way here.

"Oh, hello Tohka-san. What are you doing here?" Minato asked, ignoring the vast amounts of bread.

"What are you doing here?" Tohka repeated his words, still eating some soy flour bread.

"This is where I live," Minato stated.

"Really?! So do I!" Tohka cheered.

Minato blinked. "...What?"

"She will be staying with us for the time being Minato-kun!" Kotori chimed in enthusiastically. Another person was going to stay with them? Granted, there was one last room that Tokha could stay in, which was next to Shido's room, but what was the reason? Did Tohka just wanted to stay closer to Shido or was there another reason?

"Alright. The more the merrier I suppose. Welcome to our humble abode, Tohka-san," Minato said with a smile that was bigger than usual, shrugging his shoulders at the same time. He didn't mind another person living with him and the Itsukas. He also didn't want to interfere in Tohka's business. It all sounded personal to him. "Oh by the way, Shido will be back soon. He had some... unfinished business to take care of." Minato inwardly laughed. Tohka gave a nod while swallowing another loaf of soy flour bread.

"Okay! ...Oh?" Tohka began sniffing the air. She did this repeatedly until she sniffed her underarm. She then stuck her tongue out in disgust. "Blegh! I smell bad." Minato eye smiled.

"You may use the shower then, Tohka-san. You are living here after all." Unlike yesterday, Minato brought an umbrella with him because it rained today like it did in the past week, so he wasn't really eager to use the shower now. He also believed in the "ladies first" policy. Minato gestured for Tohka to follow him to the bathroom and then placed his hands in his pockets. Tohka swallowed yet another loaf of bread and then started walking behind Minato. They walked for a bit through the house and up the stairs and the blue-haired boy yawned along the way. He felt tired today. A minute later, they stopped in front of the bathroom's door.

"Is this is it Minato?" Tohka pointed to the door. Minato gave her a thumbs up.

"Yes it is, Tohka-san. Enjoy. I'm going to take a small nap so I'll see you, Shido, and Kotori in a few hours, alright?" Minato yawned again.

"Okay!" Tohka smiled and entered the bathroom. Minato went to his room and surveyed it when he entered. He didn't have many things in there. There was a bed like Shido's, a desk with a laptop on it, a small flat screen t.v. set, and a small table on the floor. He only had and wanted the essentials. Minato tossed his school jacket to the side of his bed and lied down on his bed. He stared at the ceiling of his room before closing his eyes. Ah. It was so peaceful...

"I'm home!" A voice bellowed from downstairs. Without opening his eyes, Minato could tell whose voice that was. Shido just came back. He came back earlier than yesterday. Yesterday, he brought home four containers of cookies that Origami made. They were all tasty! "Kotori. Minato. I'm gonna take a shower."

_'A shower huh?'_ Minato thought. _'...Wait. Isn't Tohka-san in there right no__—'_

"GET OUT!" Tohka's voice yelled. A loud, punching noise soon followed.

"WAH!" Shido cried.

And then there was silence.

_'...Oh well. Too bad for you, Shido. Time to sleep...'_

* * *

**The Next Day**

* * *

"I never asked you this yesterday, Shido, but how do you feel about Tohka-san li_—_"

"SHHHHHHHHH!" Shido quickly covered Minato's mouth with his hand, preventing the teen from speaking further. Shido was sweating a bit again. Oh yeah. If the school was to learn that THE Yatogami Tohka was living with one of the memorable blue-haired teens, a whole lot of shit was going to go down. Minato grabbed Shido's wrist and lifted it.

"Sorry. Shido. I forgot that we were in school now." Minato apologized.

"It's alright, Minato," Shido said, accepting his friend's apology. "Anyway, it's time for lunch! Could you hand me my bento?"

"Here you go." Minato handed his friend his bento. Shido replied with a "thank you" as he grasped it. It was one of three the two prepared this morning. Each of the boxes went to Minato, Shido, and Tohka respectively. Minato opened up his own and smiled. It looked sooooo good. This was going to be deli—_  
_

"Shido, it's lunchtime!"

And there was what was missing from school today. Minato turned behind him and saw Tohka placing a desk next to Shido's to his left. To his right, Origami was doing the exact same thing. Minato sighed. _'Here we go...'_

"What do _you _want?" Tohka asked her rival for Shido's affection, placing her hands on her hips and sounding annoyed. "Leave us alone."

"Right back at you," Origami answered monotonously. Panicking, Shido swiflty raised his arms between the two girls.

"Can't we _all_ eat lunch together?" Shido politely questioned. The two girls nodded with glares as they proceeded to sit down next to Shido. At the same time, Shido and Tohka opened their bento boxes. The contents were exactly the same. Origami instantly narrowed her eyes at the sight.

_'Oh goddamn it,'_ Minato and Shido thought simultaneously.

"What is it? Your little puppy eyes aren't going to make me give you any." Tohka scoffed at Origami.

"What is going on?" Origami asked in an almost threatening tone.

"W-well..." Shido stuttered. Seeing as how Shido was going to lie, and he was horrible at lying, Minato decided to intervene.

"I made and gave the boxes to them, Tobiichi-san." Origami looked towards Minato who had his poker face on.

"Why?" She asked.

"It was to show Shido and Tohka-san my gratitude for being such good friends with me." Minato stated. He made up that lie on the spot. He did feel that Shido and Tohka were great friends to have.

Origami looked down at her desk, her emotionless face not wavering in the slightest. She was kind of hurt that he didn't do anything for her. Sure Minato was close to Shido and her adversary, but did they really had no friendship between them? As if fate was telling her no, Minato continued talking.

"Don't worry, Tobiichi-san, I haven't forgotten about you. I'll make you something special. After all, you were the one who basically saved me. Who knows what might have happened if you didn't find me like you did." Minato assured Origami. She lifted her head up, looking directly at Minato with widened eyes. Minato then glanced at Shido who was clasping his hands together and was silently saying "thank you" over and over again.

"...Thank you, Mina—"

"**The signature of a spacequake has been detected in the area. This is not a drill. Please evacuate immediately. The signature of a spacequake has been detected in the area. This is not a drill. Please evacuate immediately.**" A siren roared from outside.

"A spacequake?" Minato asked. This was his first time experiencing the real deal. Shido and Origami confirmed his question with serious nods. The white-haired girl stood up from her desk and advanced towards the back door of the classroom. Every other student in the classroom did the same in an orderly fashion.

"Evacuate?" Tohka asked.

* * *

"We're leaving Tohka behind?" Shido queried hesitantly. He was talking with a grey-haired woman that was probably in her late 20's or early 30's at the far end of the evacuation lines, standing a few feet away from Minato and Tohka. The calm blue-haired teen was explaining to the gluttonous girl where they would be going pretty soon.

"Yeah. With her powers sealed, she is nothing more than a human girl." Murasame Reine, the physics teacher of Raizen High, stated. "Furthermore, we don't want to stress her to the ongoing battles between Spirits and the AST."

"I know, but..."

"Shin. Bring Arisato Minato with you also."

"What!?" Shido said incredulously. "But he's just a normal human! I'm not bringing him with me!"

"Kotori already placed an order on this, Shin. Bring him with you to confront the Spirit. There is another reason why he's going with you. It will take too long to explain, however. Just have him go with you."

"But..."

"Hey, Itsuka-kun, Arisato-kun, and Yatogami-san! Murasame-sensei, you too!" Okamine-sensei called out for the four who were currently at the end of the evacuation lines. She was heading towards them while panicking. "If you don't hurry to the shelter, you'll be in danger!" When Tamae reached the group, Shido gave her Tohka's hand.

"Sensei, I'll leave Tohka in your care," Shido said. Minato raised an eyebrow. What was Shido doing? It didn't sound like he was going with them at all.

"W-well, of course I'll take care of her," Okamine-sensei answered with a hint of confusion in her tone. Tohka faced Shido, completely confused as to what he was doing.

"Shido?" Shido turned to Tohka.

"Tohka, I have something important to deal with. Please follow sensei and the other students to the shelter," Shido ordered.

"B-but..."

"Where are you going, Shido?" Minato asked his best friend. What the hell was he doing? A spacequake was going to hit soon!

"Minato, I need you to come with me." Shido held out his hand.

"But we need to evacuate."

"Please, trust me Minato." Shido pleaded. He sounded very serious. Usually, Shido was never this serious.

"...Fine," Minato complied. "But no hand-holding." Shido smirked in response. Considering the predicament everyone was in, Minato, on a whim, decided to trust his friend. He was still very unsure of what his friend was going to do, but he had a gut feeling that Shido _knew_ exactly what he was doing though. In any case, if worse came to worse, Minato could use one of his Personas for a Trafuri that would hopefully teleport the two out of the spacequake's blast radius. He had kept his Evoker in one of his pockets during the past month in case of some emergency like a spacequake. It was kind of surprising how easy he got away with it too.

"Shido? Minato?" Tohka looked at the two blue-haired teens with uncertainty. She felt left out.

"We'll be fine Tohka." Shido assured her. Minato nodded. "Later!" The blue-haired teens then ran in the opposite direction of the evacuation lines along with Murasame Reine.

"Eh!? Itsuka-kun, Arisato-kun, Murasame-sensei!" Okamine-sensei called out. "Where are you three going!?"

Tohka held a hand to her chest. A sad look appeared on her face.

"Shido... Minato..."

* * *

**Next: Chapter Three: One of a Kind**

**Preview:**

"_Shido..._"

"Ohohoho!"

"What is this...?"

"Is he...?"

"None of that will work on me."

"No... Stay away from me! Get away!"

"Give up."

"It seems as though we're dealing with something the likes of which we've never seen before."

"PERSONA!"

* * *

**A/N:** Before I say anything about the story, let me re-introduce myself. I now go by the name of Sorata Shioya! I felt the need to change my pen name. Shadow Arisato just sounded... unoriginal to me. *shrugs*

So... how did you guys like the chapter? I liked it... Just wanted to show off some developing bonds. I even added Kurumi in for those of you who just absolutely love her. Heheheh...

Alright! So Minato is now going with Shido to see Yoshino, although he doesn't know it yet! What will happen? Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter of The Divine Spirit!

To be PERFECTLY honest, I did _not_ think that this story was going to be this popular hahaha... I'm extremely glad that many of you guys like it so far! You all have my gratitude!

As always, thanks for reading and reviews are appreciated!

Also, I'm making another crossover story! It has Persona 3, but what is the other thing? Hmmm... Expect something around the beginning of May!

Reviewers:

hack. salvation: OOC? Minato's practically a heroic mime. He's a character that can be molded. I'm not going by the manga version of him. I am borrowing his traits however.

Redmoon2: Minato will be one of the main characters! Yay!

Seeker213: I will say this now. No Date A Live character will have Personas.

will: Sorry, but not this chapter... NEXT CHAPTER WILL THOUGH!

One of the Guests: Maybe... *looks away*


	3. One of a Kind

**The Divine Spirit**

* * *

**Chapter 3: One of a Kind**

* * *

_"I honestly don't know what kind of being I am." — Yatogami Tohka_

* * *

"This is... different."

Minato placed the palm of his hand on his cheek, attempting to figure out what just happened.

After departing from Tohka and everyone else from Raizen High, Minato, Shido, and Reine made their way to the entrance of the school and exited through the front doors. At first, Minato was very skeptical because it was obviously dangerous and idiotic to go outside when a spacequake was about to dive-bomb into who knows where in Tengu City.

He couldn't voice out his opinions because he didn't even have the chance. The moment Minato looked up at the monotonous, cloudy sky, he found himself in an alternate location along with Shido and Reine.

The two high school students and their physics sensei were presently in a round room that appeared to be quite futuristic. The floor was glowing bright yellow. The walls conveyed the impression that they were made out of the finest, adamant materials humanity could obtain. A bright blue light circulated around the room within the middle portions of the walls.

From the looks of things, Minato felt as if he was just raptured into a spaceship.

"Where are we?" The Persona user queried as serenely as he could. He was puzzled about the unexpected and unknown situation he was in, but he kept a clear mind. Becoming distressed wouldn't help him. That didn't stop him from heightening his senses though in case of a potential trap.

"We are aboard Fraxinus," Reine answered in her typical tired tone. Having her as a teacher for the past month, Minato believed it was obvious to see that she was sleep deprived. She would suddenly fall asleep in the middle of a lesson and as time went on, it would become a daily occurrence. She also drank coffee with lots of sugar, but that didn't seem to help her whatsoever. Was there ever a time when she wasn't sleepy or sounded like it? Shido and Minato concluded one day that Reine had a very light version of narcolepsy.

Minato crossed his arms. His sensei's information was kind of vague. Although, one piece of it did provide some hint.

"'Aboard'? Are we inside a type of vehicle then, Reine-san?"

"Good assumption. Fraxinus is an airship," Reine stated. Minato's eyes narrowed.

"An airship," he repeated flatly. The physics sensei nodded. "Is she serious, Shido?" Minato turned his head towards his right to check with his friend, wondering if he was believing their sensei's words.

Shido smiled wryly and made eye contact with Minato. "Reine-san is telling the truth, Minato. As far-fetched as this all sounds, we really are on an airship. Fifteen kilometers in the sky above Tengu City to be precise," he confirmed with no hesitation in his voice.

As soon as Shido finished talking and without warning, the room around the group vanished. The surroundings of Fraxinus disappeared, startling Minato as he was seemingly standing in mid-air as he saw a gray sky, the clouds progressively moving above him. He faced Shido and Reine, seeing the two not freaking out in the slightest. Minato glimpsed at the "floor" and noticed a metropolitan area that bared similarities to Tengu City's design far below him. Everything Shido and Reine said started to make sense. To test his theory that he was in Fraxinus still, he stomped his foot with most of his strength, receiving a metallic sound in response. Minato kept tapping his feet on the invisible floor until Fraxinus regained its appearance.

Minato processed what he had just witnessed. He pinched the bridge of his nose in minor vexation. Airships? Truthfully, he recognized that society today was more or less advanced in technology. He saw it firsthand in a spacequake evacuation drill awhile ago. Buildings built like elevators, trains and monorails on train tracks, and cars on streets retracted into the earth for preservation matters. It made sense though. Who'd really want to recreate all of that if they got decimated? If what Shido and Reine were saying was true, then why was there a need for airships? More importantly, why were they on one right now?

"I suppose I can't deny what you two are saying. I've no choice but to believe now." Minato sighed in defeat. "Though this isn't the strangest thing I've ever seen," he claimed offhandedly, glancing around at the seemingly sealed room that returned recently. Reine took note of her student's statement silently.

Shido wondered about Minato's last words. What could have been stranger than being on a freaking airship?! Just what kind of things did Minato see? Even with his personality, how's he taking everything he just heard in stride? Shido was about to ask Minato what he was referring to until Reine walked forward. The moment she was face-to-face with a wall, a door appeared, parting from left to right as it opened. She turned her head back to the blue-haired teens.

"This way, Minato, Shin." She motioned for them to come with her as she walked casually through the door and proceeded down a hallway.

A split second later, Shido face-palmed so loud that it echoed throughout the room. "Seriously? What the hell? His name has one more syllable and she can't even memorize mine right!?" Shido then continued to mutter angry, incoherent words to himself. Minato ignored his friend's small flare-up and began to follow Reine.

"Come on, Shido. Since it doesn't sound like this is your first time here, you probably know your way around Fraxinus better than I do," Minato called out. Shido snapped out of his thoughts and caught up to his friend as the two started to run next to each other.

* * *

"I want to verify something that's been bothering me, Shido," Minato said. The two were running down a very long corridor that did not seem to have an end.

"What is it?" Shido asked.

"Why are we here, in an airship, when a spacequake is out there? Your behavior now and earlier in that room are indicating that you may have knowledge about our situation," Minato pointed out. Shido laughed nervously. He felt like Origami was interrogating him at the moment. Her and Minato's observation skills were noticeably alike.

_'Just as you'd expect from one of the two super geniuses...'_ Shido thought. "Well, how do I explain this without sounding more unbelievable? I don't think you'll believe what I have to say..." He trailed off.

"Try me," Minato challenged. Shido hesitated continuing. He then remembered that since he was ordered by Kotori to bring Minato with him to confront this newly emerged Spirit, he would probably have to explain everything to his friend anyway.

_'I might as well get it over with...' _"I have a mission," Shido announced.

"A mission?" Minato cocked an eyebrow. Shido closed his eyes and took a deep breath before speaking again.

"I'm suppose to date these girls that have extraordinary powers and abilities. These girls are beings called Spirits. They're from an unknown dimension and the real reason spacequakes happen in the first place. Whenever they leave that dimension, they come to Earth and they create spacequakes. There are two factions that I know of that have their own ways of dealing with Spirits. One of them is the Anti-Spirit Team. They're a group of girls whose sole mission is to kill Spirits before more spacequakes can be triggered. The other is an organization called Ratatoskr. With their help, I have to make the Spirits fall in love with me. I apparently have the ability to seal their powers into me by kissing them once I reach a high enough level of intimacy with them. Oh, and Fraxinus, this airship, is actually Ratatoskr's command center." Shido gasped for air and stopped running, placing a hand on a wall. Minato stopped as well. Running while explaining all of that winded Shido. While panting, he wondered what his fellow bluenette friend was thinking. Shido couldn't blame him for not believing. His story was pretty outlandish, like something straight out of an anime or manga. He would have thought the same had he not seen it all firsthand. He was anticipating a "That sounds ridiculous" retort from Minato.

Alternatively, Minato simpered. "Looks like you got your work cutout for you, Shido."

"Huh?" Shido was surprised. "You believe me, Minato?"

"Well, for one thing, you're a horrible liar, Shido. I can easily tell when you do fib. When you aren't lying, that means you're serious. You also had this determined look in your eyes while you spoke. This talk of 'Spirits' might sound hard to swallow, but hearing from you, I trust you," Minato said with an assuring smile, placing a hand on Shido's shoulder. "That, and I was willing to accept what you had to say when we were standing in mid-air. I mean, I pretty much have to at that point."

"...Thanks, Minato," Shido expressed his appreciation with a grin. He wasn't expecting to hear Minato's words of trust. He was relieved that he had him as a friend. Any other person would have labeled Shido as a delusional teenager with a hero and otherworldly female fixation, or a person with chuunibyou. He considered Minato, Tohka, Kotori, and even Origami to be close to him. Despite how eccentric they all were in their own ways, he enjoyed having them around. It was refreshing for him. "I'm kind of glad that Tobiichi-san brought you to my house. You really are one of a kind," he admitted.

* * *

_"Ya know, you really are one of a kind."_

* * *

"Huh?"

Minato just heard a voice. A feminine one. But...

_'Was that a memory? Who was that?'_

"Are you okay, Minato?" Shido's voice pierced his friend's thoughts. The teen in question glanced at Shido who had a worried expression on his face.

"I'm fine, Shido," Minato replied instantly, but smoothly. "I just had an itch I had to scratch." He then proceeded to scratch his head with his hand, trying to play off the lie he created off the top of his head.

"If you say so," Shido said skeptically, deciding to concede to Minato's words. "Oh." It just occurred to him. Shido didn't mention that Tohka was a Spirit whose powers were sealed within him yet.

"What is it?" Minato asked.

"You know Tohka, right?" Shido worded carefully. He immediately cursed himself mentally for asking such an evident question. Of course he knew her! The two gluttons saw and conversed with each other every single day! Minato tilted his head slightly, uncertain of what Shido meant.

"Eto... Obviously? She's goes to our school, she's in our class, and she talks to us every single day. On top of all that, she's even living with us in the same house. I'd have to be a complete baka for not knowing her," Minato said suspiciously, listing off the reasons why he should know her with his fingers. Shido rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"I know, I know," Shido defended, his eyes darting towards the floor. "What I mean to say is... It's just that she's... Tohka is..."

"A Spirit?" Minato finished. Shido lifted his head up and looked at his friend with enlarged eyes.

"H-how do you know that? You already knew about Tohka?" Shido inquired, almost sounding boldly. Minato shook his head, denying the claim.

"No. The first I heard of 'Spirits' was from you moments ago. Considering what we were talking about recently, I just assumed you were going to say that," Minato explained. "Am I correct?"

Shido sighed. "You're right, as usual."

"So, I'll hazard a guess that you kissed Tohka-san?" Minato asked curiously. Shido blushed bright red.

"A-Ano... Well, she kind of... kissed me first," Shido mumbled, scratching his cheek. He was embarrassed of the memory of his first kiss. Minato lightly clapped his hands, impressed that it was Tohka who did the deed.

"What's there to be embarrassed about, Shido? It's very clear that Tohka-san cares about you and you care about her. Even if it's supposedly your mission to seal Spirits' powers inside you by making them fall for you, I can tell you care about them too. I admire that about you," Minato told him with a smile bigger than normal. If there was one thing he learned from mingling with Shido, it was that he truly he cared about others.

"C-C'mon. Don't say that..." Shido murmured, his blush remaining. A thought then crossed Minato's mind.

"Weren't we going somewhere, by the way?" Minato asked.

Shido's eyes widened in realization. "Ah crap!" He shouted, bursting forth from his original position with incredible speed.

Minato quickly followed suit, sighing.

* * *

"We're here!" Shido exclaimed, entering a room in Fraxinus while gasping for air. Minato soon arrived and slowed down as he examined his surroundings, standing behind Shido.

"I assume this is the main control room then?" Minato inquired, judging based on Shido's words. The room reminded Minato of the main bridges in spaceships. In front of him were people at stations, each of them having a rather looking advanced screen. At the front of the room was a very wide and huge monitor. On the monitor was what appeared to be an area with a sizable crater in the center. Parts of buildings were destroyed where the crater was. It almost seemed like a meteor crashed down. "Is... Is that what a spacequake can do?"

"You're as smart as always, Minato," a familiar voice remarked. Minato turned his head towards his right. Right next to him, he saw Reine without her white lab coat on. She had on a different set of clothes rather than the ones she wore previously. The expression on her face was the same as usual. Past her was a tall man with long, blonde hair in a white suit with black outlines that was waving at Minato. His name was Kannazuki Kyouhei. He was the vice commander of Ratatoskr. He was standing next to a recognizable redhead. The redhead was on a chair looking at Minato with her hair in twintails because of the black ribbons that were maintaining them. She wore a red coat over her shoulders, a black tie with sidelines, a white shirt and black boots. She also had a Chupa Chups lollipop in her mouth.

"Kotori?" Minato asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, it's me, Minato." Shido's imouto confirmed bluntly. "It's about time you and Shido showed up. A spacequake just happened." Kotori turned her head towards the screen at the front of the room. "As you can see, it isn't as big as the last one, Shido."

"Hold on," Minato interrupted. "That's all you have to say, Kotori?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?" She sighed, grabbing the Chupa Chups lollipop from her mouth and then waving it in the air. "Fine, welcome to my command center, Ratatoskr," she said lazily. "Did Shido not brief you on anything on the way here?"

"What are you referring to? Do you mean Spirits?" Minato asked. Kotori nodded in affirmation.

"If you know about them, that's good enough for now, I suppose. I'll explain everything to you later. Proper introductions will have to wait as well," Kotori proclaimed with a tone that sounded like she was annoyed. Perplexed by Kotori's demeanor, Minato walked up to Shido and whispered in his ear.

"What's with Kotori? She's... different." The Kotori Minato knew was not like this. The one he knew was cheerful and cute twenty-four seven like Tohka was on a good day when she and Origami weren't at each other's throats. This Kotori, however, sounded smug and arrogant. Did she have two personalities? The thought of it was unsettling.

"I know," Shido whispered back. "In short, she's like this when she assumes her role as the commander of Ratatoskr."

"Oh. So, _she's_ the commander of this organization that's helping you romance Spirits?" Minato asked doubtfully.

"Surprising, isn't it? I was shocked too when I found out," Shido replied.

"Hey!" Kotori shouted, causing Shido to flinch and Minato to turn back to the young girl. "You two better stop talking to each other right now! If you two didn't already know, we're in the middle of a Spirit situation!"

Although somewhat miffed about Kotori's change in attitude, Minato decided to pay attention to her. The commander of Ratatoskr frowned and looked away. Kyouhei cleared his throat, preparing to speak and alleviating the inelegance in the air.

"I'd like to say that we got lucky this time, but the Hermit has always been like this."

"The Hermit?" Shido and Minato said simultaneously.

"That's the name of this Spirit. Records state that she has a quiet, docile nature," Kotori made clear. Ratatoskr's main screen was zoomed in on the crater that the recent spacequake created. There was a small person clad in green standing at the center. Their left hand had something small and white on it. Light green aura was radiating from the person's body too. Minato presumed that was the Spirit everyone was talking about. The screen then zoomed in on the Spirit's face.

The two bluenettes' eyes widened.

"I... know that girl," Shido managed to say.

"So do I," Minato added. The two stared at the screen in disbelief.

"What did you two say!?" Kotori questioned loudly. How did another Spirit go unnoticed by everyone like Tohka?

"We met her before school at one of the shrines the day before yesterday," Shido continued.

"Strange. No spiritual disturbances were detected around that time," Kyouhei commented, examining data on a tablet of some sort.

"Then it's the same as in Tohka's case, huh?" Kotori concluded. Minato was confused. Didn't Shido say that Spirits that when Spirits come, spacequakes are brought about with them? So far, that information wasn't holding up well according to what he heard just now.

"The AST is on the move!" A woman from one of the six stations in front of Minato spoke up. "They're commencing fire!" Images of young girls in their teenage years in mechanical suits of armor flying down while shooting with Gatling gun-like weapons then appeared on screen. They were all shooting at that little girl, explosions soon following from the shots. In spite of their efforts, the girl flew up unscathed and proceeded to fly away from the AST. They quickly chased after her, attempting to take her down.

Minato cringed at the sight. "How could they do that to a kid? She's not even fighting them," he criticized angrily. He clenched his fists tightly. Shido also showed his displeasure with a glare and gritting his teeth.

"The target's appearance doesn't matter to the AST," Kotori elucidated. "As long as that girl's a Spirit, they will show no mercy."

Still seeing the vivid images of the altercation, Shido decided enough was enough. "Kotori! I want... to save that girl!"

"And so do I," Minato quickly added, confidence brimming in his voice. Shido shot him a look of disapproval.

"Sorry, Minato, but only I can go do this," he stated.

"Don't be a baka! It's too dangerous to go alone in all that chaos!" Minato exclaimed. _'I didn't want to use my Personas for any reason since there wasn't one before, but it looks like I won't have a choice anymore. If it's to save that girl, I'll gladly do it.' _

"You are going, Minato," Kotori affirmed. Shido's jaw dropped as he looked at her with shock.

"B-but_—_"

"No 'buts' Shido," Kotori interrupted. "Didn't I already command you to bring him with you, or is your memory progressively getting worse?"

"Yeah, but what can he do?" Shido asked, ignoring Kotori's snarky remark. Minato didn't like where this was going.

"Think of Minato as... reassurance," Kotori guaranteed, suppressing a grin as hard as she could.

_'Does she already know of my ability?'_ Minato thought to himself. _'No. She doesn't. At least not yet. I know I haven't summoned any of my Personas this past month. I only switched to using Kohryu that one time in case I accidentally injured myself. Maybe she just wants me there to support Shido in romancing the Spirit.'_

"Fine with me," Minato answered. Despite the fact that Kotori gave the OK, Shido was uncertain on having his friend with him. He couldn't go against his imouto's commands though. If he did, he would die of embarrassment from her spreading humiliating things about him. Because the two were close siblings, he knew she wasn't going to make stuff up.

"Alright!" Shido gave up. They were wasting valuable time. "Let's go then!"

"This way, you two," Reine said as she led the way to the teleportation room located in the lower section of Fraxinus that she and her students were in previously, so the two blue-haired teens could use it to teleport to the Spirit's location. Shido and Minato followed after her. "We're going back to that room we initially appeared in. That room is for teleportation," she explained to Minato.

"It all makes sense now," he commented, finally putting the pieces together. He didn't want to bother learning the mechanics behind teleportation. Knowing that it was indeed possible was good enough for him. "Teleportation, huh?"

"It's useful, isn't it?" Reine asked. Minato only grinned in response.

_'Oh why yes it is. Trafuri has the same principle.'_

As the group was getting farther away, Kyouhei turned to face his commander.

"Why did you have that boy go with Shido-kun?" he asked. Kotori sighed.

"If you weren't on the floor sleeping the day before yesterday, you would have heard of the conversation I was having with everyone else," she sneered. "You see, there was a small fluctuation of spiritual disturbance a few weeks ago, around the time Minato came to live with me and Shido. I'll guess that you weren't aboard Fraxinus when the signal was picked up. Reine informed me that it originated from my home. Minato's room, to be specific. For the past month, we've kept a watchful eye on him for precaution," Kotori related to Kyouhei. He processed all of the information that was given to him. A spiritual disturbance? That could only mean...

"Is he...?"

The commander of Ratatoskr smirked.

"Well, let our date and battle begin."

* * *

"The Spirit is hiding in here?" Minato asked. After being teleported to the Spirit's location, he and Shido found themselves in a storage area of a department store, surrounded by mannequins that showed off women's clothing.

"According to Kotori, she is," Shido replied.

"How are you still communicating with her?" Minato wondered.

"I was given an earpiece so I could communicate with her," Shido informed, pointing to his right ear. "We also won't have to worry about the AST firing their weapons at the building for awhile, according to Kotori."

"That should give you and I a good head start," Minato said. "Now where is she...?" He looked around the vicinity, only seeing darkness and the human body replicas wearing clothes. It was like he was in a haunted house. Shido laughed nervously from the creepy atmosphere. They both turned behind them to search in other directions.

"Are you two here to bully Yoshinon, too?" a mischievous voice inquired.

Shido was caught off guard as he yelped at the sight of a talking rabbit puppet in front of him and fell on his butt. Minato kept his cool. He remembered seeing it the other day. They found the Spirit. He looked up and saw her standing upside down from the ceiling. She then flipped over, slowly and gently landing on the floor.

"Oh? I thought you two looked familiar, but who would've thought it was the lucky perverts!" The puppet spoke with a cheeky tone. The girl stared at the two bluenettes in front of her.

_'Pervert?'_ Minato reflected shortly, carefully analyzing the Spirit at the same time. _'Whatever. We found her without much trouble. Now how do we go about this? Shido said that he had to make the Spirits fall in love with him. Perhaps I should tell him how he can start this process.'_ If there was one thing Minato was good at, it was that he was good at being charismatic. He always knew the right things to say to others. He was about to tell Shido what to say but...

"Are we really going with that?" Shido asked quietly, holding a hand to his right ear while crouching. Minato assumed he was talking to Kotori. He could see sweat drops forming on his face. What were they talking about? Shido then stood up straight, closing his eyes.

"Ha! I don't know what you mean. We're just free-willed wanderers," Shido said to the Spirit with more confidence than usual, bishie sparkles flying off him as he brushed a hand through his hair. Minato sweat-dropped. That was totally unexpected. Though it did sound like something he would have told Shido as an option.

_'Did Kotori tell him to say that? It must be that. So that's how Ratatoskr assists Shido,'_ Minato mused. Another thought crossed his mind. _'If that's the case, then why am I here?'_

Minato's thoughts were disrupted as the puppet on the Spirit's hand started to laugh hard from Shido's proclamation. Shido sweat-dropped in response. "Onii-san, are you trying to be funny? Nobody acts like that nowadays!" it indicated.

"She's right," Minato validated, pointing his thumb at the puppet. He assumed it was a girl by the sound of its voice. He didn't want to unintentionally upset the Spirit or the puppet somehow.

"See? The other onii-san agrees with me," she said, inadvertently confirming that it was female.

"Shut up," Shido said to Minato before turning back to the talking doll. "Heheh... I'm glad you liked it. I'm Itsuka Shido, and my friend here is Arisato Minato." Minato waved at the girl and puppet. "Who are you?"

"Ohohoho!" The rabbit giggled. "Minato-kun sure is handsome now that Yoshinon can see him close-up! Shido-kun is too, I suppose." A blush so faint that Shido and Minato couldn't spot formed on the little blue-haired girl's cheeks.

_'You suppose?'_ Shido's eyebrow twitched.

_'Receiving adoration from a rabbit puppet... I can't tell if this is how the Spirit actually feels or if the puppet is its own person,'_ Minato pondered before smiling kindly. Might as well take what he can get. And he received of similar praises this past month. "So, your name is Yoshinon?"

"Hai! Yoshinon's name is Yoshinon! 'Tis cute, is it not? Is it not?" Yoshinon asked with a lot of enthusiasm.

"Yeah it is cute." Shido praised. "Is that the name of the puppet? Or is that you?"

Minato suddenly sensed something. It felt... dark. It was resonating from somewhere. When he tried to pinpoint this mysterious feeling, he could see that Yoshinon, which he surmised was the puppet's name, had a glowing red left eye. Her other eye was probably red too, if it wasn't for the eyepatch covering it. While she did have a seemingly perpetual smile, he knew that Yoshinon was angry.

"Wrong choice of words, Shido," Minato whispered. Shido didn't hear him because he was listening to Kotori through his earpiece.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Shido asked aloud, absolutely unaware of what he had done. "I'm just asking why she was only using ventriloquism to speak."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Shido-kun," Yoshinon stated eerily, expressing her tranquil fury. "What is this 'ventriloquism' you speak of?"

Shido, realizing his mistake, tried to turn the situation around. "Oh, I get it. Yoshinon is Yoshinon, right?" He laughed awkwardly shortly after.

"Good grief. Shido-kun, you mischievous boy!" Yoshinon teased, thankfully passing off Shido's earlier accusation. "So, what did you and Minato-kun want?"

_'Okay. This is Shido's chance to ask the Spirit now," _Minato contemplated. Time to go for the kill. Or in this case, the date.

"Ano... This may be a little sudden, but..." Shido trailed off. Before he could finish, he placed a hand over his right ear. Kotori had something to say to him "Wait... you want me to ask her that?" Shido's tone sounded wary. What did Kotori tell him?

Shido cleared his throat, preparing to finish where he left off. He had to say what Kotori told him. "Would you... go on a date with us?"

"A date?" Yoshinon asked.

Minato blinked.

"What?!"

* * *

Outside, a girl with long dark plum hair in a ponytail ran through the empty streets of Tengu City, wanting to find a certain blue-haired teenager.

She didn't know where he was, but she had her heart as her guide. She needed to know that he was safe. She wanted to be with him, no matter what.

Eventually, she found the "mecha-mecha squad" perched on top of tall buildings and floating in the sky, each one of them staring at an architecture with the number "109" labeled on it. She gritted her teeth when she saw them, but they weren't her main priority right now.

Her intuition was telling her to go inside. That boy was in there.

"Shido..." Tohka said worriedly, increasing her speed as she entered the building evasively.

* * *

"What do you think, Shido-kun, Minato-kun?" Yoshinon cheerfully asked, seeking to impress the two bluenettes. The Spirit holding Yoshinon was balancing herself on a jungle gym that just happened to be stored in the storage room. Although, she looked as if she was going to fall at any moment because she wasn't standing perfectly still. "Isn't this cool? Doesn't Yoshinon look cool?"

"That's dangerous, Yoshinon!" Minato and Shido said concurrently, holding out their arms should the Spirit slip and fall.

Yoshinon sighed as she crossed her arms. "Just tell me if it looks cool or not."

The Spirit then lost her balance, about to tumble forward. Before Minato could act, Shido instinctively covered the distance between the Spirit and himself and caught her. But in the process, Shido fell to the ground from the force.

"Are you two okay?" Minato questioned hastily. He soon clammed up because of what he was witnessing.

Shido couldn't talk. He found himself accidentally kissing the Spirit. This was bad. He didn't mean for it to happen. He didn't even reach a high enough intimacy level with the Spirit!

The Spirit stood up shortly after, staring at Shido who sat up after she got off him.

"A-ano... This is... Um..." Shido muttered incoherently. Through his earpiece, he could hear the Spirit's mood meter decreasing. _'Dammit, the mood meter's going down.'_

"Ouchie! Sorry 'bout that, Shido-kun!" Yoshinon apologized, the Spirit dusting herself off. "I guess I got too careless." Minato, sensing the tension in the air, made an attempt to alleviate it.

"At least you two aren't hurt badly," he said concernedly.

"Aw, thank you, Minato-kun!" Yoshinon appreciated his concern for her.

"What happened?" Shido abruptly questioned. Minato noted that he was probably talking to Kotori. When Shido turned his head to his left, his jaw dropped. Noticing this, Minato glanced in that direction and his eyes widened.

Standing a few feet away with a visible, red aura emanating from her was Yatogami Tohka, glaring at Shido. The two blue-haired teens could have sworn that she went to a spacequake shelter! Why was she here?

"_Shido_... What are you doing?" Tohka hissed, her voice giving it its all to not sound upset.

"W-what do you mean?" Shido inquired, frightened about what Tohka might do. He unconsciously touched his lips, and then he put his hands behind his back when he discovered what Tohka was talking about.

_'Damn it. She must have seen that kiss,'_ Minato speculated. That had to be why she looked so mad.

"I'm left behind worrying about you and Minato," Tohka continued, "only to to find you making out with another girl!?" She screamed loudly.

Tohka then stomped the ground, a small crater forming from the impact. Minato started to feel uneasy.

_'I thought her Spirit powers were already sealed within Shido? So why does she have this kind of strength?'_ Minato snapped his fingers. _'Perhaps her powers are tied to her emotions.'_

"Tohka-san, this is just a misunderstanding," Minato said as collectedly as he could, holding out a hand that signaled "stop."

"A misunderstanding? Minato, are you telling me that Shido's important business wasn't to be with this girl?!" Tohka exclaimed hysterically while also pointing at the Spirit dressed in green. She wasn't convinced. Not after what she witnessed seconds ago. Minato tried to think of ways to answer her that wouldn't end in disaster.

"Onee-san, ano..." Yoshinon chimed in, wanting to talk to Tohka, but she didn't catch her name.

"My name is Tohka," Tohka replied in a discouraging tone.

"Tohka-chan," Yoshinon continued, "I feel bad for you, but it looks like Shido-kun has grown bored of you."

"Wha_—_!?" The Raizen High students gasped at the same time.

"After listening to your conversation," Yoshinon persisted haughtily, "it seems like Shido-kun broke your promise and came to meet Yoshinon instead of you, right? No doubt about it, eh?"

Tohka became teary eyed. She refused to believe it. It can't be true! This puppet was spouting complete nonsense! Shido wanted her to stay with him! He told her himself!

"No! What are you say_— _mmmph!?" Shido and Minato raised their voices towards Yoshinon's remark, but they were both silenced by Tohka grabbing them by their cheeks with her hands.

"Shido, Minato, be quiet for a moment," Tohka commanded. She fastened her grips firmly on their cheekbones.

_'How strong is she?!'_ Minato shouted inwardly, as he couldn't free himself from Tohka's ungodly strong grip. Unless he had one of his multifarious weapons equipped, he was as powerful as a normal human being, albeit slightly stronger than the average human.

At least, that's what he thought about himself.

"I truly am sorry," Yoshinon said mockingly, overlooking Minato and Shido being quietened. "It seems like Yoshinon is just _too_ attractive. I'm not saying it's _your_ fault, but you can't blame Shido-kun for ditching you to come see Yoshinon. Do you understand?"

"NOOOOOOOO!" Tohka wailed, finally releasing her hold on Shido and Minato's faces as she flailed her arms like a child throwing a tantrum. The duo collapsed onto the floor in a miniature daze.

"I can't feel my face..." Minato muttered quietly. Shido concurred with a weak nod.

"Shut up! Bequietbequietbequiet! I won't allow that! That isn't allowed!" Tohka cried out in despondency.

"Well, even if you tell me that I can't," Yoshinon perdured, "why don't you tell her too, Shido-kun? Tell Tohka-chan how she's just a nuisan_—_"

Tohka hurriedly whisked Yoshinon out of the Spirit's hand with a grab, preventing her from speaking further. She couldn't take it anymore! She seized Yoshinon's neck and proceeded to shake it.

"I am NOT a nuisance! Shido... Shido told me it was okay for me to be here! I won't take any more of your insults! Try running your mouth now, huh?! ...Hey! Why are you being so quiet?! Talk!" Since Yoshinon was no longer on the Spirit's hand, she didn't have the ability to speak. And then the young Spirit, fixing back her hood to shield her eyes as if she were trying to avoid being seen, in a nervous manner, tugged at Tohka's shirt. "What is it? I'm talking to this guy right now..."

"Please... give her back..." The Spirit's voice was heard once more, sounding meek and shy like Shido and Minato remembered. To try and take back Yoshinon who Tohka was lifting high up with both her hands, the Spirit jumped up and down, unsuccessfully making any progress in getting him back because she was short and couldn't jump high enough.

Recovering from his stupor and the pain in his cheek by rubbing it, Minato stood up while also helping Shido up. They noticed that the Spirit was becoming more distressed without the puppet that Tohka was currently strangling. This wasn't good. The plan was falling apart. Shido heard from Kotori that the Spirit's mental condition was deteriorating at an alarming rate. Without needing more unnecessary shouting in his right ear, Shido spoke cautiously with his voice shaking, "H-hey Tohka, could you... give that back to her?" He pointed unsteadily at the rabbit.

When he did that, Tohka gasped. "Shido... She was right... You really _do_ like her better than me..."

"No! That's not it!" Shido reacted immediately. She misunderstood what he said. And at the same time...

"Zadkiel!" The Spirit shouted without warning, surprising Minato because she actually raised her voice. She raised her right hand into the air.

Behind the Spirit, the floor gave way, a giant figure manifesting at that spot. From what everyone could gather, the figure appeared to be an enormous, ravenous rabbit. Its teeth gave the impression that it can chomp essentially anything. A white mist flowed from its mouth. It then lowered its head, either staring or glaring straight at the high school students.

"What is that?" Minato asked in awe. He took a defensive stance, preparing himself should he get attacked.

"Th-this is..." Shido stuttered, unable to finish what he wanted to say. Tohka couldn't talk herself because of what was in front of her.

The Spirit jumped onto the gigantic rabbit's back, the rabbit suddenly roaring when she did so. Together with that, the white mist it was emanating blasted in every direction, hitting Minato, Shido, and Tohka head on, ice also encasing the area around it.

"This is way too old!" The Persona user exclaimed loudly as he shielded his face with his arms. That mist was similar to liquid nitrogen, meaning that its temperature was within the subzero range. If he didn't do something now, he would probably freeze to death from the cold air.

Wait... Cold?

_'Could this work?'_ Minato thought briefly as he switched from using Kohryu to Scathach instead, blue shards floating out his head before fading from existence along with the noise of glass breaking.

All of which went unnoticed by the other three people in the room due to the radical predicament taking place at the moment.

* * *

"What is it, HQ?" Kusakabe Ryouko, the Anti-Spirit Team's team leader, asked aloud. The higher-ups of Japan Ground Self-Defense Force had just contacted her. She, along with the rest of the Anti-Spirit Team members, were waiting on the rooftops of buildings outside or flying in the air with their CR-Units (Combat Realizer Units), carefully and patiently monitoring the department store that the Hermit hid in not too long ago. To her right was Tobiichi Origami, one of the strongest wizards on the team.

"..." Origami continued to observe the department store diligently, ready to strike should the Hermit make herself visible.

"Y-you've got to be kidding me! There's ANOTHER Spirit literally right next to the Hermit!?" Ryouko shrieked, causing the members of the AST, save Origami, to flinch. The higher-up had informed her that while the Hermit's Mana was fluctuating dramatically, another source of Mana was detected rather close to the Hermit. It was only a sudden shift that disappeared quickly, but they identified that the shift could only originate from a Spirit. The JGSDF had actually picked up an equivalent reading about a month ago. That Spirit, however, immediately dropped out of their radar, preventing them from conducting further analyses. They came to the conclusion that this unknown Spirit had to be the same one from before and it was able to suppress their powers.

Origami tightened her grip on her Cry Cry Cry, a large Anti-Spirit rifle. The gun itself was powerful enough to blast a hole through a human torso, something that Origami accomplished doing in the past, much to her despair. It was meant to kill Spirits, not humans! The reminder of that incident still haunted her. She vowed that she would never make that mistake again. Spirits had to die. Just like what she was going to do to the Hermit, she was willing to kill this newly emerged Spirit too. It was their fault that her parents died when she was little...

"Hold on, Origami," Ryouko commanded, placing an arm in front of her comrade's body after she perceived it tensing up. "We haven't been cleared to attack just yet. We don't want to destroy everything left and right just for some Spirits. We're gonna have to wait until they decide to come out, do you hear me?" She said with seriousness. As much as Origami was a prized member of the AST, she would charge into battle without thinking or go against her superiors orders as of late.

The white-haired girl simply nodded in response.

* * *

After Minato equipped Scathach, he felt rejuvenated. The blasts of freezing air that were suppose to hit and make him shiver were absorbed into his body because Scathach being capable of absorbing ice-related attacks. It was a strange, yet revitalizing, sensation.

Through Ratatoskr's communication line, Kotori was telling to Shido to make a run for it. In her state, the Hermit was too unpredictable as she had just activated her Angel. Needless to say, it was dangerous to stick around any longer.

The windows of the room were smashed by sharp icicles raining out of them as more cold air rushed in. The icicles zoomed in, penetrating the floor and striking the surroundings. Shido, seeing that Tohka was in the icicles' path, grabbed her by the waist and barely avoided getting pierced by thrusting their bodies to the left.

Minato sighed in relief. "Thank Kami..." He said. He then noticed that a familiar rabbit puppet was in front of him on the floor. "Tohka must have dropped Yoshinon. Maybe if I return her to the Spirit, she'll calm down," he ruminated as he went to pick her up, most of the icicles merely being sucked into his body instead of puncturing it. He held up Yoshinon with a hand when he came to her. "Gotcha."

"MINATO! LOOK OUT!"

The blue-haired teen whose name was called out turned behind him, seeing that it was Shido who shouted his name. Shido had a horrified expression on his face, but that wasn't the only thing Minato noticed. He also saw an enormous rabbit with red eyes charging straight at him like a bull. The distance between them was incredibly close.

"...Kuso," was all Minato that managed to say before he instantaneously switched back to the Persona he was using previously.

The monstrosity of a rabbit stampeded forward, Minato taking its full onslaught. The impact didn't hurt him at all because Kohryu had Null Strike, effectively canceling any damage he would have received from the charge. However, he was now stuck on the giant rabbit's snout as it kept going without slowing down.

...Right into a wall.

* * *

"There's that signal again," Ryouko said. The same spiritual signal appeared once more. That confirmed it. There was indeed a different Spirit in the vicinity. "Listen up everyone! There's another Spirit here besides the Hermit, so be on your guar—"

**BOOM!**

The eldest member of the AST was cut off as an explosion occurred in front of her eyes. Out from the explosion came a monstrous-looking rabbit that she assumed was the Hermit's Angel and something she wasn't expecting to see. Because of that certain something, everyone did not fire their weapons straightaway.

Origami's eyes widened greatly as she saw a recognizable head of blue hair. The hair was a couple of centimeters longer than her boyfriend's, which could only mean that the person was...

_'Minato!?'_

The expert wizard of the AST could only stare in horror as Minato's seemingly lifeless body slammed into the face of a building, a small cavity forming from the collision after the Hermit initially wall hopped between buildings. Minato was momentarily lodged in it before he slowly fell head-first into the ground, the impact forming yet another crater.

"No... Not again..." Origami's voice trembled, her eyes losing their focus. A Spirit came and killed someone she cared for again right before her... First her parents and now one of her friends? Why... WHY!?

"Origami! Wait!" Ryouko called out, unsuccessful in stopping Origami who blindly charged at the Hermit when she landed on the ground.

Origami discarded her Cry Cry Cry and unleashed her No Pain, a laser blade meant to stab and slash Spirits. She had to kill the Hermit Spirit! All Spirits had to die! The Hermit's back was turned, so now was her chance! Killing the Hermit was her top priority! She had to avenge Minato!

* * *

_'That's something I shouldn't get used to,'_ Minato thought to himself as he remained motionless on the ground, his face seeing nothing but concrete. Despite the fact that he wasn't injured, he felt uncomfortable slamming into another building and then falling towards actual land from several stories high. It made him slightly dizzy. He had intended to let himself get tossed around to see what it would be like, knowing that there was a possibility he could have died.

Minato felt something soft in his hand. He then realized that he had been holding on to Yoshinon this entire time. With everything that just happened, he was kind of surprised that he didn't release the puppet.

Minato heard a loud thud just ahead of him. He raised his head and opened one eye to see that the Spirit's rabbit monster landed on the ground. He also saw the Spirit girl looking directly at him, mainly at his hand. The blue-haired teen gave a warm smile, wanting to assure her that he wanted to give Yoshinon back as he waved with the puppet.

As he began to pick himself up, a black-and-white blur dashed past him, flying towards the Spirit. He couldn't make out who it was, but he observed that they had a type of sword in their hand. He instantly connected the dots.

_'Siegfried!__' _With another Persona switch, Minato jumped up to his feet and shot forward with boosted speed due to Siegfried's Auto-Masukukaja, disappearing from sight in an azure blaze.

* * *

Origami closed in on the Hermit. It was now or never! Minato would be avenged! She raised her arms towards the sky, preparing to deliver a swift downward slash.

"Haaaaaaah!" She cried out in anger, bringing down her No Pain.

The Hermit was taken by surprise. She was too focused on the blue-haired teen that suddenly vanished with Yoshinon in his hand. This white-haired girl above her was too close. She couldn't dodge in time even with Zadkiel. She instinctively shut her eyes, not wanting to feel or see anything scary that was going to happen to her.

...But nothing came.

The Spirit opened her eyes cautiously, wondering why nothing happened.

In front of Zadkiel in the air was Minato, apparently stopping Origami's attack with a headbutt as he looked up at the AST member.

"I didn't know you were in the Anti-Spirit Team, Tobiichi-san," Minato said calmly as the two descended to the ground. Since Siegfried could null slash attacks, he wasn't fazed by what could have cleaved him in half.

Actually, he had forgotten that Siegfried had that passive ability. Talk about a lucky break!

"What is this...? You're... You're supposed to be dead!" Origami claimed, taking her No Pain off of Minato's head and placing it to her side. She was dumbfounded. She saw Minato fall to his "death" with her own eyes! So how was he in front of her? Not only that, how come her assault didn't do anything to him? And how did he appear out of nowhere?

"Ano... I did not think this through or far ahead." Minato sighed. He acted on impulse and was careless. How in the world could he explain to Origami why he was impervious to her laser blade, his fall, or the fact he practically showed up from nowhere?

As if fate didn't want Minato to explain himself, a loud voice boomed from the sky, "ORIGAMI! GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

Origami didn't follow that command immediately, only saying with a light glare, "Why should I?"

"Because he's that Spirit we detected!" Ryouko added in a hurry.

"What? I'm not a Spirit," Minato denied quickly, narrowing his eyes at the accusation. He was human! ...With a special ability to summon manifestations of his psyche by shooting himself in the head. _'Okay, that might be why they think so, considering I switched Personas a couple of times already. Perhaps those transitions are qualified as spiritual disturbances, which would answer how they sort of know about me.__'_

Origami was at a loss for words. This past month, she had been associating herself with a Spirit? This whole time, she talked with a Spirit and she didn't even know it?

"Is it true?" she asked Minato coldly, but hesitantly. She didn't want to believe that he was what she hated most.

"Listen, Tobiichi-san, I can assure you I am not a Spirit," Minato said, not liking where this was going.

"Then tell me how you're still alive!" Origami responded in retaliation, her voice sounding sad.

"...Damn. I was hoping it wouldn't come to this. I also can't let you and the AST harm this girl," Minato said sadly. What Origami exclaimed couldn't have been avoided. He unintentionally revealed some part of his power by not taking any damage that would pretty much end the life of a normal person. There was no use in hiding it anymore. From what he could tell, he was going to get assaulted by the AST soon despite his claims.

Minato stuffed Yoshinon into a pocket and reached into another with his left hand, bringing out his hidden Evoker. Origami instinctively entered a defensive stance after seeing the gun-shaped object, thinking that Minato might have the intention of shooting someone.

Shockingly, that "someone" was himself as he held the gun to his head.

* * *

Ratatoskr saw the scene play out through Fraxinus' main monitor. They still kept their sights on the Hermit's movements after she escaped.

Kotori wasn't sure if she should feel interest or despair. There was the off chance that her assumption of Minato being a Spirit was wrong. There was also the chance that he could only unleash his Spirit powers by shooting himself.

She and the rest of her crew had their eyes glued to the screen, really hoping that the blue-haired teen wasn't going to kill himself.

* * *

Several floors high from a huge hole in the wall, Shido and Tohka witnessed everything that occurred.

When Minato was plowed through the wall, they immediately ran to that area, exceedingly concerned for their friend. Tohka had put aside her jealousy for the time being, focusing mainly on Minato's condition with Shido.

Both were bewildered as to how Minato managed to survive, but there was something more important at hand at the moment.

* * *

Minato closed his eyes, relaxing his body and mind. Out of all the Personas he could use, he required one that would help him fend off the AST while also not injuring them severely. Those girls mainly used guns and blades. Blades he could counteract with his skill alone, but guns... He needed a Persona that can null or absorb Pierce damage.

A mysterious voice then sounded itself within Minato's mind.

_"Go on."_

He then found the perfect one.

For unknown reasons, a grin one would classify as "insane" came into view on the Wild Card's face.

Shido, Tohka, and Origami couldn't believe what they were seeing. Minato was going to commit suicide!? And why did he look so happy!?

"WAIT! DON'T DO IT!" The three yelled at the top of their lungs simultaneously.

In spite of their efforts, Minato pressed the trigger as his eyes snapped open.

"PERSONA!"

The sonance of glass smashing was heard, followed by a surge of blue energy enveloping Minato's figure completely. From inside, colors of white sprouted forth.

The blue flame-like energy then dissipated.

Minato was revealed to be wearing the same, unknown school uniform Origami found him in the day she met him, instead of his Raizen High one, with his red armband on his left arm. Additionally, his clip-on headphones and neck-strap mp3 player remained with him.

A being of pure white floated behind Minato. Its hairstyle was precisely the same as the teenager's. Its body seemed to be mechanized. On the being's back was a white object larger than itself. A chain of connecting coffin lids was wrapped around its left arm. Although its appearance may say otherwise, it radiated a gentle aura.

Those weren't the only things that caught everyone's attention.

Vibrant, white wings were visibly connected to Minato's back, shining brilliantly. With them, Minato's visage was akin to an angel that originated from the heavens.

It was a display one would call "divine."

* * *

"So that's Minato's Spirit form. I never would have thought his Astral Dress was the clothes he had on his back when I met him," Kotori commented, waving her Chupa Chups lollipop around, impressed by Minato's appearance.

An Astral Dress is a Spirit's armor or clothing that's created by their power. Spirits are able to alter it to however they want it to look.

"Can we even call his uniform an Astral Dress, seeing as how it doesn't look like one?" Kyouhei pointed out. Every single Spirit that has been seen up until this day were female. A majority of them wore, well, dress-like clothing. Now that the first male Spirit made himself known to the world, and considering how he was clothed, it wasn't right to call his uniform a... dress.

"I suppose we can't... So, what do you all suggest we should call his clothing?" Kotori asked her crew. "And no poll this time!"

"I may have a suggestion," Reine said, raising her hand. "How about 'Astral Suit'?"

"'Astral Suit'?" Kotori raised an eyebrow.

"His attire does resemble a suit, does it not?" The physics sensei indicated.

Kotori shrugged. "So it would seem. Alright everyone, that's the term we'll be using from here on out! Those that agree say 'I'!"

"I!" Ratatoskr's members agreed.

* * *

"Unreal... Minato's actually a Spirit?" Shido mumbled. That must have been why Kotori wanted Minato to go with him this time. He then had a thought that made him cringe.

_'Does... does that mean I have to romance... him? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!' _Shido screamed mentally, clutching his head at the idea. '_NO! NO YAOI! ANYTHING BUT THAT!'_

"He's... just like me?" Tohka asked in amazement.

* * *

Origami dropped to her knees. She couldn't deny what was in front of her this whole time.

Arisato Minato is a Spirit.

* * *

"Okay, this is new. Why am I back in these clothes? I thought I had them stored in my room. And what's with these wings?" Minato spoke after what seemed like an eternity, ignoring everything and everyone but the wings he somehow grew suddenly. If the situation wasn't so tense, everybody would have fell flat on their faces. Why did he have them? Were they real? He reached out to touch them, only to find his hands phasing through. "Huh. In a way, I'm kind of glad I can't feel them," he said as he looked at his hands. Having tangible wings could result in inconveniences for him. He tried flapping them with his willpower, and they indeed fluttered, bursts of wind forming and him rising a few inches over the ground as a result. The sensation felt unnatural, like it shouldn't have been possible to begin with. Minato brought a hand to his face. _'__What exactly happened to me? This doesn't feel right. My old clothes materializing on my person, my new wings, they feel like abnormalities, just like my amnesia.'_

Minato's monologue was cut short as blares of gunfire echoed from every direction.

"OPEN FIRE!" Ryouko commanded, bringing down her arm that signaled "shoot."

_'Tch. Mind Charge.'_

At that moment, bullets from the Anti-Spirit Team's Auldists (Anti-Spirit Gatling guns) rained down on Minato's and the Spirit's location, kicking up a massive amount of dust. Minato didn't even dodge. He just stood there. The Spirit, however, started to run away on Zakiel. Some members of the AST proceeded to chase after her with their Auldists.

"Did we get him?" Ryouko wondered, fixating more on the male Spirit and thinking that it seemed way too easy for a Spirit to go down so soon.

"None of that will work on me." A familiar, but bored, voice stated as the dust was blown away by sudden gusts of wind. When the smoke cleared, swirls of green wind that resembled a tornado was seen with Minato in the center of it along with that large white being he summoned earlier, holding its arm out like it was about to take a bow. He wasn't riddled with bullet holes at all.

Minato raised a finger in the air, symbolizing number one. "One of my Persona's ability is that it can absorb Pierce damage. Gunshots count as Pierce damage. So, you girls are just wasting your time and ammunition. Even though I don't need the extra health, you're inadvertently healing me."

"What..." Ryouko's mouth dropped as several other AST members did also.

Honestly, the Persona user was disappointed. Even though he wanted to maintain a low profile, he sort of desired a challenge should the situation become dire. In Minato's mind, anything the AST could attack him with would get blocked or absorbed upon contact with his body. What a joke. Though he shouldn't be so carefree now. He had to be serious. He was labeled as a Spirit.

"Messiah, Panta Rhei," Minato ordered calmly, forming a fist with his free hand. The Persona known as Messiah then released the vortex it had been maintaining for some time towards the sky, its power doubled by the Mind Charge Minato utilized earlier. The tornado then expanded enormously in midair, dragging in the remaining members of the AST that didn't chase after the Hermit, including the field team leader, Ryouko. Despite exploiting the Protect aspect of their Realizers, they were sucked in regardless. Those girls kept spinning in circles on account of Minato retaining Messiah and the Panta Rhei constantly, depleting his "spiritual" power, or SP, marginally.

During that same time, a few feet ahead of him, Minato noticed one Wizard cowering, wielding her blade as if it was her first time doing so. He began to walk towards her with his head tilted, but then her breathing hitched violently. "No... Stay away from me! Get away! Don't hurt me!" The girl shrieked, collapsing onto the ground and passing out from fear. The Wild Card simply shrugged at the sight. One less person to deal with.

Minato recognized that this would be an opportune time to leave while he had the chance. Surely by now, Shido, and possibly Tohka, had been beamed to Fraxinus since he now realized that the Hermit Spirit was not here anymore. That WAS the reason he and Shido came here. Minato face-palmed. There goes his chance to return Yoshinon!

The blue-haired boy didn't want to use Trafuri any longer. Taking in consideration of his revelations, he wasn't sure where one use of it would take him. He eventually chose that he would fly to somewhere that wasn't here until the coast was clear, slightly hoping that Ratatoskr would teleport him back to Fraxinus during that period of time and for his wings to go away! He couldn't walk in public with those things! Then again, the population of Tengu City were in the spacequake shelters, so it was very likely no one will see him. He was about to take off into the sky until something stopped him.

"Give up." Minato didn't have to turn his head to know whose voice it was. Origami was holding her No Pain to his neck. He had forgotten the fact that she was still here.

"And then what? Will you kill me? That is the Anti-Spirit Team's duty, is it not?" Minato asked flatly, holding his hands up in resignation. No hint of fear was perceived in his tone.

Origami's hold on her blade became unsteady. Her heart and mind were conflicted. She didn't want to kill her friend, but that friend was a Spirit, an enemy. She had to. It was her mission by the AST, no, main objective in her life to exterminate every single one of their kind. But... could she do it?

Minato, taking advantage of Origami's moment of indecisiveness, decided to finish what he had started.

"Siegfried." Another Persona change, and Minato vanished in a flash of blue. That in turn dismissed Messiah finally and the Panta Rhei twister. He reappeared behind Origami and delivered a blow to a vital point in the back of her neck. She fainted on the spot as she fell backwards into his arms.

"I'm sorry," Minato whispered as he gently lay Origami down.

When he accomplished that, the scenery around him changed, but he realized that he was in Fraxinus' teleportation bay. Once he gave a sigh of relief, his wings faded away, but he didn't notice it. Minato then proceeded to make his way towards the command center on the airship. He had _a lot_ of questions that needed to be answered.

"Time for some clarification, Kotori."

* * *

"What do you make of that Spirit, Ike?" Ellen Mira Mathers asked Deus Ex Machina Industries' director after the two finished watching the fairly recent battle take place on a screen.

Sir Isaac Ray Peram Wescott chuckled and grinned darkly. This Spirit was very interesting, making incredibly quick work of the Anti-Spirit Team like he did was an impressive feat. And it was the first male Spirit nonetheless!

"It seems as though we're dealing with something the likes of which we've never seen before."

* * *

**A/N (Version II):** Kept you waiting, huh? So the anticipated chapter 3 is finally released. What do you all think of it? Personally, I couldn't have imagined it any other way.

Sorry for the long wait, real life caught up to me. Graduated high school, applied for college, and getting a job took up practically all of my time. When I actually had free time, I worked on my stories bit by bit. I also got into a Persona 4 Arena craze, which I'm still in right now in preparation for Ultimax. With all of that aside, I can truly say that I'm free to work on my stories again. YEAH!

I have a feeling most of you were disappointed in how the fight turned out. But when you really consider any fight against the AST, other than Origami and one other girl, in Date A Live, they're certainly one-sided. If you guys have been keeping up with the anime or reading the light novels, things are heating up. So, the future fights in The Divine Spirit will as well.

Have most of you also seen the English dub for Date A Live yet? So far, I like it! Shido's voice is deeper than I expected, but it's good enough for me. The English dub uses the term "spatial quake" instead of spacequake, so do you guys want me update the story by replacing spacequake with "spatial quake" or does it even matter since it's the same thing?

I coined the term "Astral Suit" for Minato since he's male, there hasn't been a male Spirit introduced in Date A Live at the time I'm writing this, and his Gekkoukan uniform does look like a suit. His Astral Suit's name is "Mashiach." In Hebrew, it means Messiah.

Minato's "Angel" is his Persona, or Personas. He can use all 170 Personas and weapons at his disposal. He'll usually equip his strongest or most useful Personas for their benefits. With Minato's speed increased from a Sukukaja, he's exactly like Yosuke when he uses it in Persona 4 Arena.

A majority of those who reviewed and messaged me have been asking what the pairings for this story will be. Honestly, I know what I'm going to do with Shido, but Minato is the bigger question. It's definitely not going to be with Tohka or Origami for obvious reasons. I'm stuck between Kurumi, Kaguya, and Yuzuru. Let me know what you guys want to see!

Minato may have an unwanted harem, but he will be paired up with someone!

Also, you all can check on my progress for upcoming chapters of The Divine Spirit or my other stories on my profile!

Speaking of my profile, for those who are interested, I'm having a poll on there to decide which future story I should do first. They're listed on my profile for those who want to see what they are. So... help me out here?

I strongly feel that the Burn My Dread -Reincarnation: Persona 3- soundtrack goes great with The Divine Spirit. Imagine scenarios with the soundtrack in mind, and you guys will understand what I mean. Like... _Deep Breath Deep Breath_ during a date!

So, what do you all think would be a fantastic opening/ending song for The Divine Spirit if it had its own anime? I love the Date A Live openings and endings, but I'd like to hear suggestions! Personally, for where the story is at right now, _Burn My Dread -Spring of Birth Ver.-_ is what I would pick for an opening.

Below this paragraph is "Ratatoskr's Confidential Spirit Data Analysis" on Minato, Tohka, and Yoshino. For every Spirit other than Minato, their data are based on information from the light novel version of Date A Live. I included them so you guys can have a better understanding of the Spirits. I won't be showing off Tohka's, Yoshino's, or any other Spirits' profiles repeatedly, only when they appear for the first time in The Divine Spirit or if something changes about them. The analysis will be updated as the story continues, mostly Minato's.

* * *

**Spirit: Arisato Minato**

**Nickname: Divine**

**Threat Level: SS**

**Spacequake: C (Megido), B (Megidola), A (Megidolaon), ? (Morning Star), ? (Black Viper), ? (Armageddon)**

**Spirit's Astral Suit (Mashiach): S**

**Angel (Persona (Messiah, Kohryu, Siegfried, Scathach)): SSS**

**Weapon: One-handed swords, two-handed swords, ****bows, **fists, bludgeons, spears

**Notes: This Spirit is able to summon spacequakes at will and control their intensities. His Angel is diverse in terms of appearances and abilities. He refers to his Angel as "Persona" in general, so it's safe to say that's what his Angel is called, although each Persona apparently has a unique name. Because of his Angel, he's the only known Spirit that can absorb and heal himself from different types of assaults. For some reason, he has various daggers in his possession but doesn't use them in combat. Despite given a higher rank than Nightmare, he is shown to be rather cordial, only attacking when provoked. Most importantly, this Spirit is the only male one to be documented.**

* * *

**Spirit: Yatogami Tohka**

**Nickname: Princess**

**Threat Level: AAA**

**Spacequake: B**

**Spirit's Astral Dress (Adonai Melek): AAA**

**Angel (Sandalphon): AAA**

**Weapon: Broadsword**

* * *

**Spirit: Yoshino**

**Nickname: Hermit**

**Threat Level: B**

**Spacequake: C**

**Spirit's Astral Dress (El): B**

**Angel (Zadkiel): AA**

**Weapon: Puppet**

* * *

Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to play competitive video games online, watch some more anime, and enjoy my summer vacation!

Thanks for reading! As always, reviews are appreciated!

Reviewers:

BloodTrinity: You're question has been answered!


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